Poland Was AWESOME!!!

"What an awesome trip"..It has to be said!!!

So everyone can acces photos, group albums on PhotoBucket have been made.
Separate albums have been made for group A and group B.
Below are the links to these albums, please upload all the photos you have to these folders!




Group A:

1. http://photobucket.com/welovepoland

Group B:

1. http://photobucket.com/kingdown-in-poland
2. http://tinyurl.com/6ab8dm
3. http://tinyurl.com/5pswhr
4. http://tinyurl.com/5ncuez
5. http://tinyurl.com/6mluz5
6. http://tinyurl.com/5pczuc
7. http://tinyurl.com/5rjh3v
8. http://tinyurl.com/6dg6m7
9. http://tinyurl.com/6lx74w
10. http://tinyurl.com/5txuqc
11. http://tinyurl.com/5qbn4y
12. http://tinyurl.com/6g9gqt
13. http://tinyurl.com/66nzkt
14. http://tinyurl.com/6qyrkm

Far Frontiers Contact Number

Just a reminder that if parents need to get in contact with Far Frontiers Expeditions during the trip, they should use:

0844 800 90 29 UK non-urgent calls during office hours or

0044 (0) 1285 720011 From outside UK or 24hr RESPONSE

See you when we get back!

Mr Bloxham.

First Aid for Gold DoE Students

As agreed at the weekend, I have organised a session on first aid in my room on:

Tuesday 22nd July at 1:50pm in M2

I expect it to last a little over an hour, but this maybe longer if you wish to cover more.

The aim of the session is to increase your confidence in first aid procedures by giving you practical scenarios to 'manage'.

Please let me know if you cannot attend. Could you also tell the other Gold students about this post, even if they have read it! The session really will help with your confidence.

Final Meeting

Please remember you are all expected to attend the final meeting this week:
WEDNESDAY 16th JULY in M2 at 3:00pm!!
Please arrive promptly and bring a pen in case you wish to write anything down.
This meeting is for PUPILS ONLY, parents do not need to be there.

Thanks,
Mr B.

Sunday 22nd June - Training Walk

We're off walking again...

Please remind everyone you see that there is another training walk this Sunday, 22nd June, for the 32 pupils that have brought their permission slips back...

...I can't believe that 7 of you still haven't done this. I gave them to you in MARCH!!

Messers Harris and Bradley have 'volunteered' to plan a route for us this coming weekend and I, for one, cannot wait to see what they've come up with!

See you all in the front car park at 8:00am.

As per normal, you will need to bring food and waterproofs. I would use this as an opportunity to walk with the bag you intend to use in Poland. Please learn the lessons of last time and strap your feet up where needed and CHECK THEM REGULARLY DURING THE WALK. If you have to start walking at a snail's pace due to blisters, it affects the whole group! You have a RESPONSIBILTY to look after your feet.

See you on Sunday, Mr B.

Oustanding Paperwork

There are several of you who still owe bits of paperwork to either myself or to Far Frontiers.

This includes some of the original permission slips for the training activities that I gave out in MARCH!...and up to date PASSPORT details that have been requested by Far Frontiers. Please also make sure that you have made your final payments.

If you need new forms for something that you have been asked for please bite the bullet and contact us. We would much rather that than have to wait any longer for forms that are already overdue!!

Please check you have valid PASSPORT and E111 MEDICAL CARDS and they do not run out half way through the trip. You have enough time to apply for new ones if you DO IT NOW!!

EMERGENCY NUMBERS - Update

During the training events AND THE ACTUAL EXPEDITION to Poland (subject to reception), parents/guardians can contact me or another member of staff helping me supervise on the following numbers:...

1) 07521 167 719

2) 07521 168 123

3) 07847 966 149

Please make sure your parents are aware of these numbers.

Organising kit...

Apologies for the inactivity on the blog for the last few weeks. As I'm sure that most of you have worked out by now, it's exam season and there have been different priorities!

A few people have asked me for a kit list recently. There was a kit list in the initial information (General Information Pack) you received from Far Frontiers about Poland. This contains some great advice and if you would like another copy, please come and see me. You will be able to veiw this outsisde my room over the next couple of days.

The link below takes you to the DoE website kit list. This is a huge list and for ideas only, YOU DO NOT NEED EVERYTHING on this list...it's mearly to help you think of things you might want to take.

http://www.theaward.org/participants/index.php?ids=3269&id=2190

Well done...

...to all those students who attended the training walk on Sunday 27th April. The weather was superb and everyone had a great day, if a little tired and sore by the end. The groups walked about 13-14 miles in a very reasonable time.

A few points to remember:..

1) Bring lunch.

2) Pre-plaster/pad/compeed or otherwise strap up your feet where you got blisters or rubbing. You must remember that if Sunday had been the actual trip, there would be 4 more days of trekking to do!

3) There is nothing stopping you from going out walking yourselves! The more you get used to it here, the more enjoyable trekking in the Tatras will be!

4) Check your feet regularly during the day and eat/drink little and often throughout the day!!

If anyone has some photos from Sunday, or some good quotes/anecdotes of people saying/doing daft things, please let me know and I'll include it on the site.

Good luck with the exams and keep check the sites for updates.

2nd Emergency Number

If unavailable on the first emergency number, please also try:

07847 966 149

EMERGENCY NUMBER

Your parents will be able to contact me when we are out training on the following number:

07521 167 719

It is for emergency use only and will only be active when on the training walks. Please make sure your parents are aware of this number.

GOLD meeting Monday 31st March

I have been asked by several of the Gold students to call a meeting on Monday (31st March, break 1 in M2) to get you all together so that teams can be sorted, jobs given out and the paperwork started!?

Remember, the deadline for BOTH the Wild Country forms and the O.A.P forms is Friday 4th April.

This is not my dealine, it's DoE's and be warned, you have no chance of extending it!

Thank you...

...to the 16 people who had handed in their permission slips by the end of school on Wednesday.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday morning!

If you have yet to hand me a permission slip, all is not lost. I'm afraid that whilst I'm not able to let you come this Sunday because the 'trip' paperwork has already been completed with the names of the 16 mentioned above, you will still be able to attend all the other training sessions if I get you permission slip NOW!

You can, of course, always take yourself out to start training and to break in the new boots. We'll be doing about 5-6hrs of walking on Sunday, you should aim for something similar.

Training Dates

As per the letter that was either collected at BCH or sent home for those who couldn't attend, training dates are as follows:

Sunday 30th March, 8am at School.

Sunday 27th April, 8am School.

Sunday 6th July, 8:30am, Westbury White Horse car park.

Plus 22nd June and 13th July for those that wish to attend, both leaving from School.

Remember it is expected that you will also complete your own training on top of this. The more prepared you are before you go out, the more you will enjoy it whilst you're there!

Ready for Sunday 30th?

This is the first of the walks we will be doing in preparation for Poland. As such it will be a nice, easy start and an opportunity for many of you to start wearing in your new boots.

WARNING: If you have not already done so, please make sure you spend several hours in your boots around the house before walking in them on Sunday!

For some of you the walk will be very easy and for some it will be a bit of any eye-opener. Please be supportive of everyone walking with you and offer help as and when appropriate.

PLEASE REMEMBER:

1) Wear a decent pair of socks/sock combination and the footwear you intend to use in Poland.

2) Each time we stop for a break, check your feet for signs of rubbing (pink bits) and strap/plaster the area BEFORE it becomes a blister. You will obviously need to bring plasters with you to do this with (Compeed style are the best...Boots make their own version).

3) You will need to bring a pack-lunch with you and snacks to munch on as you walk (Haribo is not as good as you think it is for this!). Please also remember to bring enough water with you, 1-2 litres will be fine.

4) Be sensible with what you wear and bring waterproofs. You are quite capable of deciding what size bag to pack that all in. If you can fit it in a small ruck sack that's fine. If you wish to half pack the ruck sack you will use in Poland, that it is also fine.

5) Meet in the Front car park at 8am and we will be leaving shortly after. Be ontime!

Please leave expensive and unnecassary items (like iPods) at home. I'm looking forward to Sunday and seeing what you're like as a group!!

Permission Slips

Thank you to all those students who have already returned their permission slips for the training activities.

For those who are 'sitting' on their forms or those who have "left it on the fridge" please be aware that I have left submitting the forms for the 30th March as long as I can. If I do not have your permission slip by the end of school on Wednesday you will not be able to walk with us on Sunday.

No permission slip...no walk.

DoE Planning...how's it going?

You have been very quiet about your planning recently and I can only hope this means that you are progressing nicely...if this is not the case you MUST come and see me for help.

I am proposing to use the last weekend of the Easter Holiday (19th/20th April) to complete your practice expedition. I have tried to avoid May and June for obvious reasons. As mentioned previously, I think the best place to complete this would be Exmoor, which some of you will know already, and is now counted as a wild country area. This should help with the O.A.P form for Poland. Reading the Award website, it states that:

"Practice journeys at Silver and Gold levels should include two or more full days and nights away from home."

I suggest that we travel to Exmoor on the Friday evening (18th April), complete the weekend training and return to school approx 17:00 on the Sunday (20th April). I will, of course, ask the question of County about those particpants who are going to Exmoor two weeks earlier, to see if you need to repeat this exercise!? Permission slips for this will be available soon, please let me know ASAP if you cannot make this date. Mention this to those people in your group who are still not checking the Blog regularly!

I have an electronic copy the 'Green Form' with Kingdown information on it, which must be sent to the Exmoor panel VERY SOON! Tracings (A4) of the route you intend to walk must also be included. Please email me at: bl@kingdown.wilts.sch.uk to receive the green form from me. You can then add all your team information and EMAIL it back to me for sending to the expedition panel. I also have maps of Exmoor available in my room for when you wish to plan your route and paper to do the tracings on.

To make sure you are on task, please arrange for one or two members of you team to see me at any time this week and give details of your progress so far. You have enough time to complete everything, but you must stay on top of it! Good luck, Mr B.

Thank You

Thank you for supporting the 'lock-in' at BCH on Thursday. I hope you found the evening useful and you managed to get the equipment you needed. Please remember to thank the person who's wallet took the 'hit'... a great way of doing that would be making sure the exams you are sitting this summer go very well by REVISING LOTS!!!

The BCH staff were very complementary of both you and your parents and said that they were asked lots of great questions, so thank you.

Head Torch

The BP garage at Longbridge Deverill is currently selling LED head torches for £4.99. They are obviously not the highest quality head torches you'll find, but they'll do for navigating your way to the toilet in the middle of the night.

I have looked on the BP website to see if all BP garages are doing this, but I struggled to find any information of their promotions at all. If anyone can find the answer to this, perhaps you could let me know.

Permission slips and details for the training days will be ready tomorrow.

Trip Timings

Here are the flight details for our expedition:

BA 2774 26JUL London Gatwick/Krakow 0735/1105

BA 2775 03AUG Krakow/London Gatwick 1150/1320

Allowing time for check in, I suggest the need to leave Warminster at 03:00 on 26th July.

Allowing time to pass through customs and travel home, you would arrive back in Warminster approx 17:00 on 3rd August.

18 - 0

'Number of people registering an interest in Gold DoE - attendance at first Gold DoE meeting'.

"Disappointing..." was the response from the coach.

This means that AT LEAST 18 people had not looked at the website last week. Considering I gave details of the site and the need to check it on the last letter I sent home and I have placed posters around school with the same information on, you will understand my concern!

This is how I am going to communicate to you the information you need for Poland. It is up to you to check, I have done my bit!

I will provide another opportunity to for you to meet me on TUESDAY (4th March) BREAK 1 in M2 (be there by 10:55) to organise teams for the Gold DoE and begin preparing the O.A.P form (please read the previous post). You will obviously have a week and a half less time, but it is still immensely 'do-able' if you share the jobs out and get on with it!

REMEMBER: PARENTS EVENING THIS THURSDAY (6th MARCH @ 6pm in DRAMA STUDIO)

Last piece of information FOR ALL STUDENTS GOING TO POLAND:
I will place a copy of the latest post outside my room so it will be even easier for you to see if you are up to date. Please mention this post to anyone you see from the Poland trip.

Gold DoE Meeting 29th Feb

There will be a meeting for the 18 people that said they would like to use Poland towards gaining their Gold Award on the first Friday after half term.

BREAK 1, FRIDAY 29th FEBRUARY @ 10:55...PLEASE BE PROMPT!!

The aim of this meeting is to sort you into two groups of 9, to introduce you to the forms that need completing and to give roles to members of each group to ensure that forms are completed as soon as possible.

Links to the forms can be found on this site and you should familiarise yourselves with these before Friday.
Each team will need to:

1) Plan their training expedition (I suggest that Exmoor would be by far the easiest place to go for your training expedition!). You may also wish to use the few days we will do on the Deverills in your application form, plus consider any other kind of training that may be useful (i.e. kit selection at BCH, possibly ask Paul Harris if he could deliver basic first aid training for some/all members, etc...).

2) Give details of the route(s) you will use in Poland. Far Frontiers can help here by letting you know where to find suitable maps and will also give advice in route selection and alternatives for each day of the trek. You will need to give detailed information about the terrain you will be trekking in and the routes and escape routes you have planned.

3) Details of the accommodation...taking out of your hands by the National Park not allowing camping in the Tatras, but you will still need to provide details on the form.

4) Food, where and how you will source this when in Poland and reasons for your choices (again Far Frontiers can help you here).

5) Give the aim of the trekking expedition to Poland. There are lots of ideas for expedition aims on the internet (see the DoE site...useful links listed below) and a good way to get inspired is by investigating the History of the area.

YOU SHOULD AIM TO COMPLETE AND SEND ALL SECTIONS OF THE FORM BEFORE THE EASTER HOLIDAYS!

I will support you through the planning stages along with the other members of staff and Far Frontiers!

You will need to get busy on this between now and Easter!

Get Kit.Wear Kit.Fly

Pardon the pun, but I thought it made the point quite nicely:

Travelling tip...save space in your pack by wearing bulky kit like boots and coats on the plane.

Speaking of kit, BCH LOCK-IN CONFIRMED!!

It will take place on THURSDAY 13th MARCH, which is a week after the parents evening. It will be at the Trowbridge store at 6:45pm. Please make you're own way there. Use the link below for directions to the shop, or type "BCH Camping Trowbridge" into Google Maps.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=385853&y=158502&z=0&sv=BA14+8QE&st=2&pc=BA14+8QE&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf

There will be a breif talk by BCH staff at 6:45, about the suitable kit they have for Poland, followed by an opportunity to try things on, etc. You will get a 20% discount on anything you buy on the night. Please bring only ONE PARENT with you, there will be lots of us in there on the night and it will be crowded!

YOU ALREADY OWN MOST OF WHAT YOU NEED! Please don't get carried away and start buying lots of shiny new kit, there really is no need! Only buy what you have been unable to beg, borrow or...get second hand.

I should also say that you are obviously free to go to any brand store you so choose. I organise lock-ins at BCH because they do a good discount and their staff are helpful.

If you didn't get 'the pun' then have a look at the following:

http://www.myspace.com/getcapewearcapefly

"Zakopane..? Never heard of it!"

A bit of general interest for you...FIS Nordic Skiing World Cup descends on Zakopane (Zak-oh-par-nee) each year where the region hosts the Cross-country, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined events. You can see the highlights from this year's event on Channel 4 this Tuesday at 1:05am (so Wed morning...if you're up!). More information on the links below:

http://www.zakopane-life.com/

http://www.channel4.com/sport/microsites/S/skiing/skiingon4.html

http://www.visit.malopolska.pl/turystyka/aktywna/?id=88&lang=gb

Meeting your guides

There is an opportunity for you and your parents to meet the guides from Far Frontiers that will be taking us to Poland and who will be trekking with us in the mountains.
It is REALLY IMPORTANT that you ALL attend this meeting as it is your (and your parents..) chance to ask any questions about the trip and voice any concerns.
Chris Short, whom you met at the first parents evening, will also be there and he will run through the itinerary again and explain how the timings of the two groups will work. This would also be the time to ask any questions you have regarding kit for the expedition.

This meeting will take place in the DRAMA STUDIO on THURSDAY 6th MARCH at 6:00pm. Please come into school via the front entrance. I will send a letter home shortly confirming these details.

I am currently arranging a 'lock-in' at BCH CAMPING in Trowbridge for shortly after the 6th March where you will be able to ask advice from the BCH staff and get a discount on anything you decide to buy on the evening.

Please don't go mad on kit...I suspect that you will already have most of what you require and if anything, you may only need to purchace one or two essential items.

Welcome to the expeditition blog!

The idea behing this blog was to share relevant information about Poland 2008 with you quickly and easily. Please check this site regularly for:

• Updated information from Far Frontiers
• Dates, venues and times of meetings you need to attend
• Kit lists
• Itineraries
• Information regarding the Gold O.A.P application and other necessary preparation.
• Training dates and other information.

I'll also be putting on photo's and stories from training days and anything else I can think of that you may find useful or interesting before we leave!

If you can think of anything you would like included on here, just come and find me.