PGL has started on the sunniest and hottest day of the year, a fabulous beginning to an awesome trip.

We arrived on the PGL site to be warmly greeted by our PGL host Kane. Kane showed us where we could leave our bags as our rooms were not quite ready before we had our picnic lunch in the shade of the trees.

We all had a tour of the PGL site noting where we would be doing our activities. Pupils were able to access their rooms and explore for the first activity session at 2.15. There was quite some excitement for pupils deciding which bed to use and I am sure they quickly opened secret supplies of snacks and treats.

The first activities were axe throwing and “quick jump”. “Quick jump” is an activity where the pupils and the staff who want to take part, climbed up high inside a tall tower to emerge with their safety harness securely attached to quickly jump off a platform to fall to the ground. Wow, what an amazing group of young people we have, many of the pupils jumped to the ground, others did amazingly well to go so high, well out of their comfort zones to look down on their peers’ shouting words of encouragement.

The axe throwing was the highlight for a number of pupils, some bull’s eyes were scored, pupils are engaged and listened well to instructions, all the pupils waited patiently to take turns.

There was plenty of time after the activities for all to rehydrate with water. PGL provide many water stations where we can refile our water bottles.

The range of food at dinner was wide and plentiful, the dining room was incredibly loud and was clearly uncomfortable for some. We have a plan for tomorrow to use a quieter space for those who really need it. Hopefully this will help us all to start the day well.

Everyone is now settled, no noise from pupils or staff, it is still very warm, so I hope everyone gets a good rest ready for a full day tomorrow. The activities available tomorrow include rife shooting, archery, the zip wire and lazer tag- a real favourite from last year.

The PGL Team.