I've had a great 4 weeks with Black Wolf.
Craig and I arranged a program for the school's intermediate bushcraft club.
We had arranged to take the lessons in two groups, year 7 and 8 on Thursday's and year 5 and 6 on Friday's.
Week 1 first lesson Thursday 11 September, after some discussion Craig finalised and emailed me an outline for the lesson, Tarpology with detailed knot work.
I arrived at Ashford train station and rang Darren to pick me up.
He then drove us to tbe school, the lesson went well although it was busy I felt I covered everything.
Darren dropped me back to the station after.
Second lesson Friday 12, Craig led this lesson I was surprised to see all the little bits that although I had covered were that much smoother.
Week 2 again I ran the Thursday with Darrens support and Craig the Friday with me supporting, we had arranged to do a more serious cutting tools lesson, again Craig had written a lesson plan.
I had brought a few extra bits in case I finished what looked like a lesson that I would complete in just over an hour, I did not get to use them as the lesson ran a few mins over.
To start with we went over how important it was to listen and follow instructions for safety, both days managed this really well, with one girl on the Thursday being particularly good with the axe.
And no injuries.
Week 3 FIRE, fire is awesome again this is a lesson we ran in the basic course, but this time we went into more detail, talking about how fire works, why we use it.
And then let them make fire in a variety of ways, we finished with friction fire.
Week 4 was advanced knife skills, we took the kids through a thorough safety brief and once the kids started to use the knives Craig and I continued to talk about safety.
The kids made a tent peg, rounding off the top, pointing the end, creating a notch then putting in a split to take some cordage that we then adapted to make a candle holder for the garden.
And another win, everyone still have all fingers.
Camp out
Craig and I left early with a shopping list for food and supplies.
As ever things took longer than expected we had planned on arriving at the school by 15.00 to give us time to set up and have a smooth evening.
We actually arrived at 15.30 (bloody trafic) still plenty of time but as ever with new kit it took us longer to set up than expected.
Craig went to collect the kids whilst I finished the last bits, food prep etc.
The kids arrived with Craig and we went over the rules, stay within camp unless you need the toilet then ask permission and go in pairs, no running in camp etc.
The kids settled in unpacking and playing games whilst I prepared dinner, burgers, hot dogs, onions and beans with cake for afters.
After dinner we cleared away, played some games, sang some songs and generally had fun, then we had hot chocolate and snacks.
By now it was getting late so we suggested that the kids settle themselves down for the evening, they found it difficult to settle and it was late/early before they did (this is not unusual for a first night).
The next day I got up early and started breakfast, of bacon and bannock (tasty tasty bannock),
After breakfast they packed away and we said goodbye with Craig walking them up to the car park, when he got back we re tidied the camp and set off to get ourselves sorted for the next group.
When we arrived back a few hours later we had plenty of time to prep for the next group, Craig finished sorting the camp, I prepped food for dinner and breakfast.
The kids unpacked when they arrived with their teachers.
We had a similar activity night with the kids, we settled the kids down and within an hour they were asleep, not long after so was I.
The next morning ran smoothly, breakfast and the kids packing away, we then packed the camp down on good order, as I had my regular job to get to so obviously leaving took longer than expected.
The teachers got us a bottle of wine each as a gift for a nice camp.
Craig and I chatted on the way home, all in the camp was a great success, with some lessons learned and some great experience.
The future for Black Wolf is all a learning experience, with plans then adaptations being made after each course to ensure smoother running and better lessons for the future.
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