D of E Wet Afternoon

Today we had 5 Bronze teams and 1 Silver team out walking in the wet weather that hit Plymouth today. One of the bronze teams got closely followed by an interested horse.

There was also 1 Silver Cycling group out getting very wet and muddy.

Power Kiting on school grounds

Today Mr Jackson went  Power Kiting, tomorrow he will not be allowed.

Marjon Climbing Wall

This week in climbing, we went to the Marjon's Sports Centre. It had good climbing facilities for bouldering top-roping and leading. When we arrived we were given a short tour of the facilities and got straight on with some basic warm-up traversing. After we had warmed we got straight on to the ropes. Alex and I jumped straight into some lead climbing on an overhang (which I regret, as it left me very tired for the rest of the afternoon), while others got used to the wall on a top rope. Later, more people started to lead climb on some harder roots. Towards the end of the session we moved over to the bouldering wall to work on some routes and play some games. A particularly fun one was when we took a very simple route, and every time someone climbed it they had to remove a hold. This led to impossibly hard dynos (dynamic and sudden move, usually a jump.) All in all it was a very fun afternoon, and I hope to return to finish a certain black route.

Eliot Hargadon (Year 11)

Whiteworks Maintenance and Bike Skills

Today Mr Jackson and I spent the majority of the day at Whiteworks, our Outdoor Activity centre in the heart of Dartmoor National Park carrying out some general maintenance and putting together three new bunk beds. With the addition of the new bunks it means we can comfortably accommodate 24 people at the centre with an additional 2 beds for staff. The centre is our moorland base for outdoor activities as well as being available to hire for external users.
We made our way back to Plymouth College for 3.30 so I could deliver an after school outdoor activities club. Todays activity was generic bike skills, this took place on the school astroturf and put the students to the test through a series of activities. The students were tested on their balance skills both stationary and in motion, lifting the front wheel and rear wheels off the ground and various slalom courses.


Mr Brice
Assistant Head of Outdoor Education

Mountain Biking on Dartmoor

Today we offered Mountain Biking to the Boarding Students. Unfortunately due to other commitments only two students could attend, David and Scott. Even with the Low numbers, Mr Brice chose to go ahead as the weather on the moor was beautiful. We started our ride from the college activity centre at Whiteworks and our route took us via Nun's cross, Sheepstor, Burator reservoir and crazywell pool area.
The ride included some moderately technical ups and downs and some sections on the road. Overall the weather made for a fantastic day out and both of the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

D.Brice
Assistant Head of Outdoor Education

Bronze D of E Nav Training

This afternoon 5 teams of Bronze D of E students were out practicing their navigation techniques along the coast. We were lucky enough to sea a warship coming in surrounded by a number of helicopters. All the groups and staff had nice time out and about and we will be out again doing different routes next week.

G. Starks (Head of Outdoor Education)

Indoor Climbing at Dart Rock

This Wednesday afternoon, the normal climbing lot boarded the fun bus to go to Dart Rock for the afternoon. We all had a quick warm up on the traversing wall before moving to the bouldering wall and trying some stupidly hard routes which, needless to say, we mostly fell off (excluding the likes of Alex of course!) Practising some technique in this section really did help when we came to climb the roped walls though, where even I managed to get to the top of a few! Meanwhile Alex and Toby were doing some crazy lead climbing, which after watching, Mr Starks somehow convinced me and Ed to have a go. He eased us in gently on some of the easiest routes (which still didn’t stop Ed from taking a pretty spectacular fall) to slowly build our confidence. It was still pretty nerve wracking though! After this we had a quick last go on the bouldering wall, where we tried some pretty easy routes, and mostly fell off, due to being pretty knackered by this point. So after a good 2 hours climbing we re-boarded the fun bus and headed back to school, tired but happy.

George Monk (Upper 6th)