
Myself and another were leading a group of 12 children on a walk and camp as part of the summer residential programme at Mill on the Brue outdoor activity centre. Before departing we had to teach the children some basic campcraft (cooking with a trangia, making a shelter, making a fire); what equipment to take for a night out in the "wild" and how to pack a rucksack.
We departed the centre around 16:00 and led the children along a basic route through Bruton, then out into the surrounding countryside (taking extra care and following a set procedure when crossing roads) to a farm field where shelter building materials and food had been dropped off previously. The children then had to build there own shelters (separate boys and girls shelters) and cook dinner on a fire (warm up some bolognaise and potatoes in a pot) before going to bed. As a leader I had to ensure the shelters were a good enough standard to last the night, making alterations where appropriate, make sure the children were behaving safely around the fire, and make sure everybody had eaten something warm. During the night I had to make sure the children were actually sleeping and not disturbing other members of the group, as well as being available in case any of the children had any problems during the night, eg. getting cold/wet/scared.
In the morning, the other leader and I had to wake the children up and get them fed, watered and packed away ready to head back to centre for 09:00. When we were back at the centre we had to make sure all the children handed their equipment back in and clean it all so it was ready for the next group to head out.
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