We had planned for the children to have a lie-in today with the morning knock-on-the-door alarm call postponed until 7.30 am.  However, most were already up, dressed and ready to go way before then!  Everyone seemed full of beans, looking forward to breakfast, and keen to find out their group's activities for the day.  Bacon was on the menu for breakfast although we're worried about tomorrow's option of baked beans. If beans are on the menu tomorrow, the staff have requested to cancel room inspections fearing the smells that will entail. 

Today was spent at Blackgang Chine. The children enjoyed countless rides on the rollercoaster on the cliff edge as well as a drop tower, water slides and spinning barrels! 

"Hey, that's well unfair. Why don't we get ice creams?" was one of the first comments I heard after we had just arrived. I was just gearing my way up to say how irresponsible it would be of any teacher to permit children having ice cream at 10.30am in the morning and just before going on some rides, when to my dismay the people eating ice cream were Miss Radford and Mr Fifield. It was from that moment we knew it was going to be a long day.

Those brave enough enjoyed the rollercoasting which boasted some stunning views across to Freshwater. Not every day you get to ride a rollercoaster on the cliff edge next to the sea! The poor ride operator groaned as he was subjected to the same line every time, "can we go again?" and since the queues were empty, our children of course went on time and time again. 

After lunch we headed for The Wild West and spent some time acting as Cowboys. You'll see some of the children taking part in a rather...umm...odd...ritual within the chapel. I'll blame the Mayan History lessons with the sacrifices for that inspiration. Other children decided to ride some of the horses - look out for Mr Fifield who decided to have a go too (sighs...) We intended to only spend 20 minutes there but we ended up staying longer - partly due to the amount of fun being had but also down to one child who went nose first into the Sherriff causing an almighty nose bleed. Thanks to the poor child sneezing mid-way through the nose bleed, I will never get that amount of blood off my clothes again. 

The children also enjoyed the crooked house and some other small attractions. Inside the Vortex, Mrs Healy got a little stuck. Well, to tell the honest truth... she got on...stopped after 4 steps...screamed loudly...grabbed hold of the side...screamed some more...called for help...got stuck...and couldn't get off. Now whilst you might feel sorry for her, none of the children or staff did.

Once we'd left Blackgang Chine we headed back to our accommodation. Two of our boys have now become rather big headed since walking past another group of girls from a different school. The phrase, "Those boys are so hot!" was heard as they made their way past the open window. I'm not quite sure how to stop them from being so big headed! 

At dinner, one child said, "This Viennetta is so good it's absurd" - he then asked for the recipe! 

Having spoken to some of the boys, their favourite moments so far have been:

Harley - being able to stroke Bill (the bird) at Amazon World Zoo

Aiden - being buried within the sand and unable to get out! 

Vinnie - the rollercoaster at Blackgang Chine!

Elliott - being able to buy lots of sweets and the water slides

Taylor - The drop tower with the stunning view looking out at sea (I ain't seen no better view than dat across the sea). A lemur also scratched my ear [Mr Mills just wants to add that he was absolutely fine!] Oh and the 4d motion cinema! 

Freddie - Amazon World Zoo and particularly the lemur who jumped and 'pooed' on me

Jacob - Sleeping and sleeping more. I also enjoyed the low ropes but not when Mr Mills was trying to bounce me off!

Lenny - Amazon World Zoo and the wallabies. I got to feed one! 

Harry - Getting to pet the wallabies!

Kris - Getting to splash the adults in the swimming 

Cameron - I really enjoyed going swimming!

Girls:

Kiara - feeding the wallabies and robbing the bank and the saloon

Charlie - the swinging ship at Robin Hill! 

Scarlett - I loved it when Oakley (the owl) kept staring at Beatrice!

Maya - The water slides at Blackgang Chine. I got wet!

Rosie-Mae-Getting to see the monkeys!

Ronnie - Going into the lemur cage!

Beth - I really enjoyed going on the pirate ship and listening to Freddie scream!

Tharunikaa - The drop tower with the girls screaming

Isla - Getting to go into the cold sea! 

Bowe - Making new friends including someone called Vanessa

For those of you following the Olympic Water Polo, the second heats were indeed very heated!

First up was girls (with all the adults) vs boys. The result ended 7-4. 

Second up was Boys vs Girls (but with Mr Fifield in goal for the boys and Mr Mills in goal for the girls) with the result 13-11

A member of staff has ended up with a broken toe from the competitive games...although since I am now talking in the third person I doubt I will get much sympathy.