Well Done to our Kielder Challengers

A team of eight teenagers from the Royal Blind School were flying the flag for Scotland having qualified as regional winners for the grand final of a national outdoor adventure competition. 

The Royal Blind School team were up against five schools from various parts of the UK in the 2008 Fieldfare Kielder Challenge Cup. The two-day grand final was held at Kielder Water and Forest Park, Northumberland. The students performed heroically but it was eventually the team from Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School who took home the Cup.

The team, made up of Jamie Fitchie, James Clegg, Lyndsey Hands, Gavin Blaikie, Ewan Blaikie, Kurt Rossin, Saad Attieh and Stephen Clegg took part in six problem-solving games that were designed to test the skills of a team to work together, communicate, plan and evaluate.  One of the games involved the team, divided in two by a river, having to find and sort then transfer objects across the river using a pulley system with no verbal communication allowed during the game.

The efforts of the Royal Blind School team were rewarded, however, with the group being awarded the Fieldfare Unity Shield for teamwork.  This is presented to the team that has been deemed to be the most friendly, unified and integrated throughout the whole Grand Final weekend.  The winner of the Shield is voted for by the other teams participating in the Finals and a selection of staff and volunteers that observed all the teams over the entire event. The shield was formally presented by the sponsors of the event at the Finals and re-presented at a School assembly by Alison Rae, Administration Manager of the Fieldfare Trust.

Andy Johnson, project officer for Fieldfare Trust, said, “I am amazed by the standard of the teams at the final.”

This is a great achievement for the school and everyone is rightly proud of their success. Congratulations to all the teams, the teachers, helpers and volunteers that made the Challenge so successful.