Lower 4's Muddy Orienteering Fun at Merchiston

On Friday the 15^th of March, all three year-groups of Lower School got on a coach together (actually, there were probably several coaches), and went to Merchiston Castle School for an exciting afternoon of orienteering with the Merchiston students. This event was a follow on from the World Book Day activities (on the 7^th March) but this time St George’s students were the ones doing the visiting and Merchiston were the hosts! All the Lower School students were dressed in active wear and so were most of the boys. Everyone was really excited as we had never really done an event like this before, at least not for a while for some people, so everyone was looking forward to this new experience.

As the coach arrived, the Merchiston boys welcomed everyone as we entered the hall. The hall was lively. It included interesting history about the school and many of the school's biggest achievements – there were trophies and plenty of other amazing props, so we were all relatively ok with waiting for a bit, before the event started. After a few minutes, everyone was settled in their group, and we were ready to go outside and start working on whatever activity we were going to do together. Before we all went off and did the hunt that we had been told about, we were given a past-time activity to do to get to know each other where we passed a ball to each other and talked about ourselves (hobbies, pets, family, etc). When we were ready - and had been given the maps to help us on the hunt - the separate groups (which we had now grown to know relatively well) set off to find the first few clues and complete the game before all other groups. Along the way, there were some obstacles and difficult challenges to solve as a team. Overall, there was lots of running and laughter - though the weather wasn’t the best, as it was incredibly muddy, and the rain was pouring down in heaps – but everyone still had a good time!

This was also Red Nose Day, so you could bring a red nose and a two-pound donation.

Everyone, in the Lower School community, who was involved in both events would like to thank teachers for organising such a fun event, and just weeks after our last outstanding social activity day. Of course, we would also like to thank Merchiston for being amazing hosts and welcoming us to this event. Except for the occasional raindrop, it was a nice time, and was an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Written by Aiza & Emmea, (L4)