A total of 33 students in Years 7-10 have just returned from an exhilarating five-day Outward Bound experience to Watermillock in Cumbria. This year, due to the popularity of the trip and the increased demand for places, we took more students than ever.

The annual trip offers our students an opportunity to build confidence, independence and team working skills, but perhaps the most valuable part of the experience is that it also gives them the opportunity to prove to themselves that they can overcome any challenge, however difficult, with a positive attitude and a little determination.

Students took part in a range of exhilarating and challenging activities such as Gorge Walking, Cliff Diving, Canoeing and the infamous "Jog and Dip', which involves an invigorating run followed by a fully-clothed leap into the lake, which is truly a shock to the system! They also enjoyed an overnight orienteering expedition, where they climbed mountains, erected tents and cooked their own food.

On the final night, groups gathered together to talk about how the course could be implemented into their daily lives at both home and school. Many spoke about how they had surprised themselves with the level of personal resilience they had discovered, and said that they would feel much more confident in trying something new and in their ability to succeed - we could not have wished for a better response.

The centre was so impressed by the positive attitude of our students that a number were offered scholarships to attend residential experiences in the summer holidays. Antonia C, Mathew S and Abbie S will all take part in the fantastic three-week "Skills for Life' programme, whilst Charlotte R, Jake D, Rhys S, Luke G, Jack A and Will W will visit for a week-long summer adventure.

This year, we were joined on the trip by Sam Forth, representative from Akzonobel, the global paint and specialist chemicals company which has sponsored our Outward Bound experience for the last three years. Once again, thanks to their financial support, we were able to subsidise the cost of the trip and therefore make it more affordable for our students. Sam proved to be an excellent mentor on the trip and he has agreed to support our young people even further by joining us in school to assist with a variety of careers and business events. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Sam and to Akzonobel for their continued support.