The children and teachers had a long journey yesterday after being delayed at both borders however I spoke to the teachers at regular intervals and all of the children were in good spirits, indeed judging from the laughing in the background they were not having a great time. 

The mid afternoon trip to the mangrove area was a highlight and several of the children collected shells. The tide was in quite a way and the activity served as a welcome break form the coach. 

The children arrived at North Star around 6:00pm and quickly settled into their rooms. When I spoke to Mrs Birchall at around 8.00pm all children were happy with their rooms and had enjoyed a feast of roast chicken (or vegetarian option), fresh vegetables and finished off with jelly and ice cream. I am thinking of booking myself in for a few days! 

After dinner the children were off on a wadi walk to look at the stars. The teachers were hoping that this might finally exhaust them and prepare them for a good nights sleep. 

Mrs Reeves is in charge of the room inspection tomorrow morning (Sunday) before the children embark on their first activities. 

I told the children before they left that I would be writing a daily bulletin and asked them to collect gossip that I could pass on to you. Word on the street is that Mr Sanghera started on his packed lunch as soon as the coach left school! 

I’ll have more information for you tomorrow but for now be reassured that all the children are safe, happy and having a wonderful time. 

The children enjoyed an action paced day yesterday, completing two activities during the day. The staff have commented on the extremely positive attitude shown by all of our pupils and that every child gave 100% effort in each activity. I spoke to all of the children before they left and reminded them of the importance of good manners and I am pleased to report that the staff at North Star, have been impressed by the manners shown by the children. They are representing the School in a very positive way.The children who visited the beach were lucky enough to see turtles and an eagle ray. They were very aware of the importance of conservation. 

Special mentions go to:

• Hannah Whelan – she is a star at mountain biking.
• Tanya Restall for being extremely polite and helpful.
• Tanya and Hermine Kerjan for winning the GPS orienteering activity in the morning.
• Daniel Helmi and Teddy Pender for winning the GPS orienteering activity in the afternoon.
• Andy Holt for being polite and helpful.
• James Spalding who excelled himself in the wall climbing activity putting both Mr Colbourn and Mr Sanghera under some pressure.
• Aala Osman who completed the wall climb blindfolded! (under careful supervision of course)
• Maira Chowdhury and Robert Scott who are new to the year group and are proving to be very popular and making friends.

• Camilla, Beatrice, Robyn and Nadira for the girls.
• Diamond, Ryan and Xing for the boys. 
  

Last night they feasted on lasagna and sticky toffee pudding. Of course the teachers needed to carry out some pretty thorough quality control of the toffee pudding! There wasn’t a crumb left! 
After dinner the children were taking part in team games such a s tug of war. Preparations are under way for a special celebration tomorrow (Monday). More about that in tomorrows update. 

Yesterday was a very special day as it was Jasper Webb’s birthday!

The day started slightly later with the children enjoying a longer lie in.

Perhaps all of the excitement was catching up on them. The first two days have been slightly overcast and Mrs Birchall has been most upset as she likes to top up her suntan, so Mr Colbourn encouraged the children to sing a sun chant which apparently worked and everyone enjoyed a bright, sunny day. 

The children participated in another rotation of activities. 
Special mentions to:

• David Todd for displaying a positive attitude in climbing and abseiling.
• David Whelan and Robyn for motivating their friends and helping other children in the mountain biking activity.
• Daniel Helmi and Caitlin Willis were the fastest in their group in the climbing activity.
• Nick Casemore who has proved to be skillful at abseiling.
• Daimond Bham for displaying excellent biking skills along with William Holmes who impressed his group with a demonstration of jumps and slides on his bike.
• Anisia Lica and Ryan Mc Cullough for 100% commitment in the biking activity.
• George Pavlovis and Robert Scott Hughes won the GPS activity in the morning and Torridon Linskaill and Tim Chaudhry won this activity in the afternoon.
• William Lambarth for displaying excellent cooperation and teamwork when kayaking.
• Hazim Zulane Othman was the fastest boy up the climbing wall and Hermine was the fastest girl.
• Omar Shawary for displaying style and flair along with excellent listening skills.
• And we are particularly proud of Rabbani  Amirrudin and Robyn Cole for overcoming their fear of the abseiling tower.  

Room inspection winners were:

• David Todd, Jasper Webb, Torridon Linskaill and Tim Chaudhry
• Caitlin Willis, Arabella Myers, Katie Howland and Amy Mc Guigan  

Well done to everyone for their achievements! Every child has taken part in something that they had never previously experienced and we have been very impressed with the positive attitude and confidence that our children are showing towards these new experiences.

I mentioned that on Sunday evening the children were participating in team games. Mrs Birchall informed me that her team won the tug of war event for the third year running. To round the evening off the children challenged the teachers to a tug of war and beat them! 

After all of that exercise dinner was very well received. Last nigh the children were involved in designing a package that would support/ protect an egg when dropped. More about this in tomorrow’s bulletin. 

I hope that you are not missing the children too much, make the most of it as they are back tomorrow!

Another action packed day! In yesterdays bulletin I mentioned that the children were taking part in a design a protective package for an egg competition. Five of the eight groups successfully designed a package that protected the egg when it was dropped. This equals the previous North Star record of five groups, who were actually Year 8 students so our children should be commended for their success. 

The overall winners of the competition were Patrick, Maira, Krissy, James, Anisia and Torridon. 
After that it was early to bed! 

The children visited the beach yesterday and went snorkeling. They saw a mori eel, a large barracuda, several small and harmless sharks, a ray and several turtles. After expert tuition by Mrs Reeves, Mr Sanghera was able to snorkel in deep water, something he had never previously done. 

This trip certainly has been about individuals overcoming their nerves to experience something new and everyone should be commended for their positive attitude. 

Later in the day the children tried the brand new assault course. Indeed Nick Casemore was the first child ever to have attempted the course. This proved very popular. 

Special mention to:

• Rabbani Amirrudin who as a non swimmer, overcame his nerves to snorkel, using a flotation device 
• Room inspection winners were:Diamond Bham, Xing Wong and Ryan Hannah Kozak King, Maira Chowdury and Amy Parsons 

Last night the group held a talent show. I am looking forward to hearing the stories about this and seeing the photos. The teachers treated (if that is the right term) the children to a rendition of ‘When I’m 64’ originally performed by the Beatles.   

The overall winners of the talent show were Anisia, Krissy and Tanya for their self-choreographed dance routine. 
This morning the children will eat breakfast and then pack and enjoy one last walk along the beach before they board the coaches for the journey home. 

Throughout the trip the teachers and instructors at North Star have praised the manners of our children. Last night the children thanked the kitchen staff and today they will than the instructors. 

We are expecting everyone by 4:30pm but I have asked Mrs Birchall to call me when they have crossed the border and again when they reach Sohar Hotel so that we will be able to judge if we need to use the contact tree. I will only use this if there is a significant delay.

For some of you I know the time has dragged and for some, the time has flown by but I look forward to seeing you all this afternoon to welcome your children home. I expect that, although very excited they will also be very tired. 

I would like to thank Mr Sanghera, Mr Colbourn, Mrs Reeves and Mrs Birchall for accompanying the children on this very successful trip. 

Best Wishes

Lynda Haynes (Head of Primary School)