IoW 2025 blog
Expand each day to find out what our year 6 have been doing on their residential.
Monday 2nd June 2025
Our journey to Portsmouth was fairly traffic free so we made it to Portsmouth in good time ready for our first activity of the week.
We really enjoyed the D-Day museum and learned lots of interesting facts from the exhibits. We especially liked exploring the last surviving WW2 landing craft for tanks, which was enormous - it had space to transport 10 tanks! It was lovely to hear from a member of the museum staff, who was very complimentary of the children's behaviour during our visit.
After, we walked to the park next to the museum for a picnic lunch.
'The tanks are enormous!'
'It's scary to think real people travelled on this ship to war. They must have been very brave.'
'I enjoyed the videos at the museums. The actors helped us to understand what it was like to be there.'
'There's been lots of loud songs on the coach - some better than others!'
After lunch, we travelled the short distance to the ferry terminal and after a bit of a delay, boarded and sailed over to Fishbourne, finally arriving on the Isle of Wight.
We drove straight to the hotel, checked in and settled into our rooms to unpack our bags. A short while later, we had our first delicious dinner. Everyone ate lots of food as it has been such a busy day.
Tonight we are looking forward to a walk to explore the beach front area outside the hotel in Shanklin and might even have time for a quiz before bed!
Tuesday 3rd June 2025
We all slept well and started our day with cereal and a hearty cooked breakfast.
Shortly after, we set off to walk from the hotel to Shanklin Chine, just along the beach. We had only been out of the hotel 10 minutes when a member of the public commented how well behaved all the children were.
Despite the rainy weather, Shanklin Chine was beautiful. We saw the stunning waterfalls and learned how the chine was created. We tried very hard to help Mrs Hebden complete the scavenger hunt, but unfortunately were not able to make her Isle of Wight dreams come true and finally see a red squirrel for the first time.
It's amazing that erosion created this.
It's very green!
I bet it's even better in the summer!
This weather is full British holiday weather!
I love it here, I really like the waterfall - I've never seen anything like this before.
I'm going to beg my Mum to come back here.
We got on the bus and made the 30 minute journey to Osborne House. To the teacher's disappointment and the children's excitement, the rain became too heavy to eat outside so we had a tasty picnic on the coach.
After lunch, we set off to explore Osborne House and the grounds. The house was extraordinary. The children were absolutely fascinated by what they saw; there were lots of gasps and wows! Several of the guides commented on the children's exemplary behaviour as they moved through the house so quietly and respectfully.
The Durbur room was very artistic and intricate.
This stuff must be very expensive!
Billiards must be very difficult the table is massive
This house is amazing - was Queen Victoria a bit of a diva?
I can't believe that two men pulled Queen Victoria up in her lift by hand!
As the sun finally appeared, we walked to Queen Victoria's private beach, admired Swiss Cottage and then squeezed in a play in the park.
As we were leaving, a retired head teacher and local schools advisor approached Miss Luckett and introduced herself and commented that she simply had to tell us how impressed she had been with our children's behaviour and attitude as she had seen us around the house and grounds.
We are very proud of the children as this has been a theme throughout the day. Their conduct has been exemplary.
We returned to the hotel for dinner - the jelly and ice cream went down very nicely.Tonight, we're all looking forward to a wild time at laser tag - especially Mrs Holland!
Our favourite quotes of the day:
Is there shopping at Allum Bay tomorrow? Is there a Primark?
Mrs Thompson, can I tell you about how to stuff olives?
Wednesday 4th June 2025
Laser Tag was a blast! After dinner, we dashed back on the bus to the laser tag. What followed was a number of exciting games and some very very sweaty children! Everyone agreed that it was the perfect way to end our second day. With spirits high, we returned back to the hotel to bed.
That was AWESOME!!
I can't believe I came first in my game! I'm so proud of myself!
I've never been so sweaty in my life!
I shot Miss Luckett!
This is the best holiday I've ever been on!
On Wednesday morning, we got up, had our tasty breakfast and left promptly to make our longest journey while on the island, all the way to Alum Bay. Our first activity was to go out on the pleasure boat to see The Needles. Blue skies were shining over the Isle of Wight so the trip out on the water was glorious, although a bit choppy! We learned lots of facts about the lighthouse and the Victorian gun placements that were stationed there. We were again delighted to receive compliments about the children's behaviour and manners from members of the public.
That was fun - and very wavy!
(When climbing the steep stairs back up the cliff) This handrail has become my whole life, I've never needed one more!
That was bumpy and fun with some great views!
I can't believe how big The Needles actually are!
Straight after, we went to see a glass blowing demonstration. The children watched absolutely fascinated at the skills being demonstrated by the very experienced men working there, asking some excellent questions.
It was really cool and hot!
Making a glass robin is incredibly clever!
Following our lunch, (we were thrilled we managed to have an outside picnic today!) the children had a chance to visit the shops and purchase some delightful and definitely memorable souvenirs.
After our visit to Alum Bay, we travelled across the island to Sandown to visit Dinosaur Isle. Following an introductory talk about the history of the area and what to look for, we walked along the beach to go fossil hunting.
We walked along the beach with a building sense of excitement that we might be the first school ever to find a full T- Rex.
Despite our strong aspirations, we were not able to find one, but were very pleased to find a number of fossil fragments, trees, sea sponges and shells that according to our guides, were more than 200 million years old! Some of the children were so pleased with their finds they have decided to bring them all home!
We then made some more tremendous purchases at the shop of Dinosaur Isle shop, where again, the staff commented on how lovely the children's manners were, before heading into the spectacular exhibition. The children saw some enormous fossils and dinosaurs, (especially ichthyosaurs) and enjoyed a talk about the most famous fossil finds of the Isle of Wight and learned about the connection between birds today and the carnivorous dinosaurs of the past.
After dinner, we are looking forward to an exciting show at the hotel tonight!
Thursday 5th June 2025
We LOVED the magic show last night! Huxley the magician was brilliant! There were lots of stunning tricks and he was very funny. He even stayed after his show to talk to the children about magic - some even got the chance to show off their magic to him!
It was incredible - way better than I expected!
Loved every moment of it!
On Thursday morning, we had time for a much needed slower start before setting off to Blackgang Chine. Even though rain returned to the Island (again), we were excited for rides, slides and lots of serious fun. We had a lovely big breakfast, sorted out our lunches and set off.
The children embraced the day and really went for it even though it was very wet and windy. We enjoyed: going upside down on The Extinction, the Jolly Robin pirate ship, the haunted house, water slides, hall of mirrors, dinosaur land, drop rides, visiting the Wild West and more!!
Extinction was the best because went upside down!
My soul left my body on Evolution (dinosaur drop slide)
The view from the top of Evolution was brilliant!
Really fun!
I felt like I was flying!
I did a somersault across the net - not on purpose, but it was quite fun!
I thought Extinction might make me go extinct!
It was fun and scary at the same time!
The haunted house was haunting!
When we were on the boat ride we sang our hearts out!
Fun filled, exhilarating and adventurous!
It was really fun but the weather was rubbish!
The tea-cups were ferocious!
Best place on the Isle of Wight!
The rides were awesome!
Excellent water slides!
Extraordinary - 5 stars!
The water slides were absolutely splashing!
Luckily, we managed to squeeze in a visit to the gift shop to purchase some more fabulous souvenirs (and all sweets left on the island after our shopping earlier in the week) before heading back to the hotel on the coach for dinner.
We really enjoyed our last dinner of the week - pizza or nuggets, and attempted some packing before getting ready for our last night disco, which even though there's some very tired faces, are really excited about!
Friday 6th June 2025
We all had a brilliant time at the party. The dancing was spectacular and the singing very loud! We finished the evening with an end of trip prize-giving before wearily heading off to bed one last time.
This morning, the children were brilliant and got themselves packed and ready in record time. We had a swift breakfast and walked along from Shanklin beach to our sea sports venue. As we walked, once again, members of the public commented on the sensible behaviour of our children and their friendly manners.
When we arrived, we were really excited to discover that we were body-boarding. After a fairly hilarious wrestle with our wetsuits, we made our way into the beautiful water. Luckily, the sun was sort of shining so it wasn't too cold. We threw ourselves into the waves and soon worked out what to do. There was lots of whooping and shouting, jumping and splashing and super excited faces.
I'm not sure if I really like this or really don't like this - I think I love it!
That was soooo fun!
Best activity of the week!
Only a bit cold!
Sea sports was amazing!
We got ourselves changed, walked back down the beach to get in the bus to the port to board the ferry.
I'm excited to go home but sad to leave the Isle of Wight.
I can't wait to tell my parents all about this brilliant trip!
I'm tired but I don't want to go home!
Best holiday ever!
We've had an AMAZING time - see you soon!
