Media students can be a delicate breed. Most are happier to sit and sweat over editing a short film than tasting the fresh countryside air whilst pushing themselves to the edge. But that’s exactly what some first year BTEC students did recently when they visited Blackwell Court for a day of team building, communication and most importantly… fun!
Nine brave first years set off from Sutton H.Q at 9a.m not knowing what the day would bring. On arrival, there was a quick briefing before some simple, but effective introductory exercises taking in first names, house numbers and deep outer space, naturally. Our Nine breezed these and so it was straight to the giant seesaw where our heroes distributed their weight to find the perfect balance, before climbing a ten-foot wall. Sensing a certain amount of arrogance our instructors threw us into Blackwell’s version of Shelob’s lair, which was eventually mastered albeit after several attempts.
Then, the zip wire. You know the sort of thing… For those old enough, it was a bit like the end of The Krypton Factor assault course, or for the younger reader, like something from ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get me Out Of Here!’ We huddled nervously at the top, shivering in the biting wind. And then, one by one we all hooked ourselves up and…. “WAAAAAAAAAAHHHEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!!!!” Flew down the line to the bottom.
Things were stepped up in the afternoon, with the infamous leap of faith, which several found pretty scary, but did anyway. Our heroes were then pushed to the limit as groups of four took it in turns to balance on top of a telegraph pole at the same time. Not easy, but they did with impressive results.
The day ended as Team Media set the Sutton College benchmark as Luke ‘Stuntman’ Wilson and Dan ‘Hughesy’ Hughes built a stack of 16 crates before they toppled over. The record is 23, so not too far away.
And then as the weather closed in, it was back on the bus for home.
All who went had a terrific day, pushing themselves to their individual limits and learning how to work as a team for a common purpose. They proved that, when they want to, when they really put their minds to it, they can overcome the biggest of challenges and succeed.
