ETA: 5:15pm

Friday: The children have packed their bags and are heading off for their last activities. It has been a great Travel Week this year and we are looking forward to getting back to The Grove to see you all.

Thursday: The rain has arrived! Only a little bit of rain though and iOS thinks it will be clear by 7am… We have lots of photos to finish uploading so don’t forget to check back soon. We will let you know when Wednesdays folders are complete.

This morning we have the following activities.

Group 5 – 8 will be taking part in Kayaking and Raft building this morning on Condover Hall Lake.
Group 1: Rocket Launch, Conquest.
Group 2: Lazermaze / Grid of Stones.
Group 3: I.E’s, Abseiling.
Group 4: Abseiling, Swimming.

Afternoon Activities.

Group 1: Tunnelling / Vortex, Abseiling.
Group 2: Abseiling, Sensory Trail.
Group 3: Conquest, Rocket Launch.
Group 4: Conquest, Lazermaze and Grid of Stones.
Group 5: Conquest, Fencing.
Group 6: Climbing, Conquest.
Group 7: Lazermaze and Grid of Stones, Conquest.
Group 8: Circus Frenzy, Conquest.

Wednesday: Another beautiful morning in Shropshire, the thunderstorms have not made their way over from Milton Keynes. We have an early start which will give Pre-prep plenty of time to prepare for their lake activities after breakfast.

Groups 1 – 4 will be taking part in Kayaking and Raft building this morning on the Condover Hall lake.
Group 5: Circus Frenzy, Dance Mania.
Group 6: Sensory Trail, Circus Frenzy.
Group 7: Rocket Launch, Archery.
Group 8: Tunnelling/Vortex, Abseiling.

Afternoon Activities.

Group 1: I.E’s, Lazermaze/Grid of Stones
Group 2: Circus Frenzy, I.E’s.
Group 3: Dance Mania, Circus Frenzy.
Group 4: Climbing, Dance Mania.
Group 5: Lazermaze/Grid of Stones, Climbing.
Group 6: Tunnelling/Vortex, Abseiling.
Group 7: Abseiling, Tunnelling/Vortex.
Group 8: Fencing, I.E’s.

Tuesday: Good morning! The children are wide awake and playing on the netball court before breakfast. We have the following activities this morning and will number the group photos for you.

Group 1: Circus Frenzy, Climbing.
Group 2: Archery, Swimming.
Group 3: Sensory Trail, Archery.
Group 4: I.E’s, Tunnelling Voertex.
Group 5: Tunnelling Vortex, Sensory Trail.
Group 6: Fencing, I.E’s.
Group 7: Dance Mania, Fencing.
Group 8: Sensory Trail, Dance Mania.

Afternoon activities.

Group 1: Dance Mania, Swimming.
Group 2: Climbing, Dance Mania.
Group 3: Swimming, Climbing.
Group 4: Archery, Circus Frenzy.
Group 5: Rocket Launch, Archery.
Group 6: Lazermaze, Grid of Stones.
Group 7: I.E’s, Sensory Trail.
Group 8: Fencing, I.E’s.

Monday: We left The Grove as scheduled at 10:00am and stopped for our picnic lunch on the way. The children were all full of energy and excitement as we got closer to Condover Hall.

We arrived at Condover Hall at 2:15pm. The children were very excited as we announced their rooms. Just before their first activities, we split the children into their day groups for group photos (online soon) and this afternoon we have: Archery, Rocket Launch, Tunnelling/Vortex, Sensory Trail, I.E's, Dance Mania, Circus Frenzy, Lazer Maze and Grid of Stones.

The children are all in bed resting for their first full day tomorrow. We are now uploading photos from this afternoon and evening to the gallery website.

Photos:

During Travel Week we aim to upload as many photos as possible, a selection of photos will be uploaded here, the rest will be uploaded to our gallery website. If you require a password reset, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if the data connection is strong enough we will also upload occasional photos to Facebook and Twitter. The Group photos will be online later this afternoon (Monday). Group numbers are inlcuded on the photos below.

The two teams of mini-vehicle designers from Chestnut and Sycamore competed in the Kimbolton school design challenge involving designing and making a vehicle to ride a ramp and jump across a shark infested river carrying Batman! (or egg with a remarkably `Batty` look!).



The teams spent all day designing and building their marvellous creations using the workshop facilities at the school. In the final test the Sycamore team came a well deserved 2nd place against several other schools (also beating the Kimbolton Home team!) whilst the Chestnut Batman was feeling a bit shattered! (A bit more work needed on seat belts!) An “eggsciting” day was had by all with lots of enthusiasm from everyone!

Well done to all involved.



Mr Slater

Our December activity weeks begin on Wednesday 14^th December and run through to Friday 23^rd December, we will be closing at 4:00pm on Friday 23^rd December.

Please use the form below to sign up for pre-season sports training and contemporary dance. All other activities which are detailed on the timetables attached to this article do not require you to sign up.

Please ensure you arrive by 10am and please do not leave before 2pm. Earlier collections can be arranged if your child has an appointment or special occasion, please let us know at the office if you do need to collect before 2pm. Please be aware that as our first activities begin at 9am, you may not get your first choice of activity if you arrive after 9am.

Wednesday the 12^th of October saw the annual Grove School Colts rugby tournament hosted on our home pitches at tear drop lakes.

Teams form Akeley Wood, BMS, Quinton House and Pitsford joined The Grove in a round robin event culminating in a final on the main pitch.

Each match lasted 15 minutes and some very close scores were recorded.

EVENTS Scorecard

The Grove                  2          Quinton           4

Akeley                        7          Pitsford           0

Pitsford                       0          BMS                8

The Grove                   3          Akeley             4

Akeley                         1          BMS                2

Quinton                       4          Pitsford           1

The Grove                   1          BMS                8

Akeley                         1          Quinton           1

Quinton                       0          BMS                5

The Grove                   4          Pitsford           1

Final Match

BMS                3          Akeley             0

We were delighted to be able to witness a final between the top two teams after the round robin event was completed. Akelely Wood played BMS in a 20 minute final. The game was a very good showpiece for schools’ rugby and BMS eventually came out winners 3 -0.

All teams performed well and some excellent skills were on display. Power house Damilola showed some great form ending the day as our top try scorer showing superb skill and determination. Further mentions to Alex Lee, Jeremy Matthews and Harry Dunning who played some of their best rugby for The Grove.

A massive thank you to all The Grove sports, support and teaching staff who helped organise an excellent event. We would also like thank all the parents who came and cheered us on all afternoon.

Mr Small and Mr Ellemore

Colts Rugby vs Bedford Modern

Wet and windy conditions greeted The Grove Colts for their fixture against Bedford Modern on Monday. The Grove started the stronger of the two sides and were out to a 10-0 lead with ties to Oluwadamilola Omotosho and Harry Dunning. Bedford Modern then saw a period of sustained pressure on the Grove try-line before a fantastic tackle from Zayd Khan saw the ball turned over and a third try scored by Ayomide Adewumi. The Grove scored another really good team try to Jeremy Matthews, just on the stroke of half time.

Bedford Modern started the second half extremely well and scored a well worked team try to bring the scoreline back to 20-5. The Grove then went on to score four more tries, including a length of the field try to Elijah Martey. Overall a really good team performance that saw TGIS win 40-5.

A special thanks to all the parents/grandparents who came out to support the team in the wet and the cold!

Mr Small

The Grove: 40
Tries: O. Omotosho, H Dunning, A Adewumi, J Matthews, E Martey

Bedford Modern: 5
Man of the Match: Harry Dunning

Cedar class and their teacher Mrs Carlin put on a wonderful assembly with songs about World War II and a class favourite poem version of Little Red Ridding Hood. Well done Cedar.

On Thursday 15^th September a rather excited Cedar and Birch headed down the M1 to RAF Hendon. There was a great buzz on the mini buses as Barnaby from Birch Room had been on the telephone that morning telling Chris Evans from Radio Two where he was off to! We arrived in sweltering heat and after a group photograph in our blazers and hats we took them off and headed into the museum. Our first hour was spent looking at the huge and amazing planes that had flown during World War II. We saw an American Curtiss Hawk, German Messerschmitt, and an English Avro Lancaster to name but a few.  Our tour ended with a group session where it was announced that because Barnaby had spoken with Chris Evans this morning the museum were going to very kindly donate to the school a gift of having the schools name painted onto one of the red arrows! Could today get any more exciting? 

After this we split into two groups and had the opportunity to dress up in some RAF uniforms that were worn during the war, we all looked very smart! After some photographs we went upstairs to meet one of the blackout wardens from wartime. He took us back in time to during World War II, and he explained all about The Blitz and the need for blackouts in houses and on car and street lights. He was very impressed with our knowledge when answering his questions. After lunch we went off to The Battle of Britain Hall. Here we saw lots of planes, tanks, cars and bombs that all played their part during this battle. After this it was time to leave to come back to school. We had all had a fabulous day and learnt lots of new things about the RAF and the  great part that they played in World War II.

Mrs Carlin

Summer 2016 Activity Week Timetables. Our activity weeks run from 18^th July to Friday 12^th August 2016 we close at 4pm on Friday 12^th August. This Summer there are four exciting and full activity weeks for each department. There are also special bookable activities which were sent out to parents earlier in the term.

Timing: Core hours for Activity Weeks are 10am – 3pm

Please ensure you arrive by 10am each day that you are attending, during the activity weeks you may collect from 3pm at the earliest.

If you need to collect earlier than 3pm for a special occasion, please ensure our staff and the office are aware in advance.

If you are coming in for a special activity, such as pre-season training and you would like to stay for the day after the session is complete, we would ask that you arrive by 10am, this enables us to have a clearer picture of attendance numbers for the afternoon.

Please be mindful that our building work has commenced, all parents and visitors should report to the main car park not the small car park at the front of The Grove. 

Current ETA: 5:45 PM

Travel updates: 

5:30 PM - updated ETA to 5:45 PM

4:05 PM - Following a quick toilet stop at Thetford we are now back on the road.

1:55 PM - We have left Hilltop and are on our way back to The Grove.

Friday: A memorable week with challenging and exciting activities is drawing to an end. We are slowly waking up to the sound of bags being wheeled along the paths as we empty our rooms. Once we have all eaten and finished packing, we will start our last activities for Travel Week 2016. We have The Journey, 3D Maze, Team Tasks, High Ropes, Big Zipper and Rockpools.

We will keep you updated with our ETA as we travel this afternoon. Follow us on twitter for travel updates or visit this page. I would like to take this opportunity to say that the children have all been fantastic this week. The Hilltop staff have been amazing and so have The Grove staff, what a great Travel Week. We look forward to seeing you all soon and sharing our Travel Week stories with you. We will of course continue to upload some more photos for you before we depart.
Scroll down for the Twitter feed and a selection of photos or visit our gallery website to take a look at our large selection of photos from the week.

Thursday Evening:We have all had an action packed day. As a treat for the children we will all be going to the beach after our supper. We will upload the photos from today once we return from the beach.

Thursday: The groups are fed and prepared for their last full day at Hilltop. This morning we have another group heading out for their Coastal Erosion session, we have more Super Swing which was a very popular activity yesterday, Tree Top Trail, Big Zipper, High Ropes, Climbing, Power Fan, Vertical Challenge and the list goes on! The middle groups are going to see the Seals this afternoon and if the weather remains good we might have a chance to take all of the children to the beach later on today.

Wednesday: It is another clear and sunny morning at Hilltop. The children are enjoying their breakfast before we meet for our activities. The children in Beech, Holly, Larch and Rowan will be visiting the Dinosaur Park for a day trip. Some of the groups are taking part in Coastal Erosion today, an educational and entertaining activity at the beach. We also have: 3D Maze, The Journey, Super Swing, Crates, Archery, Assault Course, Low Ropes & Low Bridges, Ponds & Woodlands.

Tuesday: We have had a busy start to the day at Hilltop. A range of activities have been taking place, Archery, Crate Stack, The Journey, Bikes, Big Zipper, Ponds and Woodlands to name but a few. We have offloaded the photos from this morning and the cameras are back out for the afternoon activities. We are currently preparing the morning photos for uploading. All of the photos from Tuesday morning, afternoon and evening are online.

Monday: We arrived at Hilltop at 1:05pm just in time for our lunch. After their lunch the children were shown to their accommodation and unpacked their bags. We then got the children into their day groups and the Hilltops staff introduced themselves to us before going through safety procedures and discussing how each day will run. The staff were all very helpful and welcoming.

This afternoon the groups have taken part in a range of introduction activities including Mad Hatters, Swimming and Team Activities. Following their supper, the children in Foundation, Larch and Rowan had a relax and play in the games room. They have now gone to bed to rest before our first full day tomorrow. The older children are returning from their evening activities and will soon be in bed too.

We will be relying on 4G for our photo uploads and our photos from today will be online later this evening. We will be taking the day group photos tomorrow morning. We look forward to a fantastic #TravelWeek

We have left The Grove and have begun our journey to Hilltop Outdoor Centre in Norfolk. Hilltop is a fantastic centre, the staff and children are very excited. We will be stopping for our lunch on the way.

During Travel Week we aim to upload as many photos as possible, a selection of photos will be uploaded here, the rest will be uploaded to our gallery website. If you require a password reset, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. If the data connection is strong enough we will also upload occasional photos to Facebook and Twitter.