Unearthing Character Through Residentials

Over the past 2 weeks, over 220 Finborough students from Prep 5 to Year 8 have embarked on residential trips across the country. They’ve launched themselves headlong out of their comfort zones to face their fears, everything the elements could throw at them, build friendships and make the very most of their school experience.

Expensive, nerve-racking and perfunctory, might be what some think about the residential experience, but the reality is an eternity away from this, especially when striding out on such expeditions at the beginning of a school year. With new classes, new students, and new teachers thrown into the mix together, the immediate immersion into character building began. Demanding physical and mental situations, instantly creating a shared challenge to overcome together.  Without even thinking about it, everyone has embarked on the process of really getting to know each other – pulling together to form a team that will rely on each other and learn together for the rest of the year. 

We all have memories from school, the ones that are burned and branded into ourselves and that shape us as people, the ones that make you smile when you think about how you laughed with friends until you couldn’t breathe, the ones where you missed home and found comfort from a friend who you’re still close to twenty or thirty years later.  The ones where you realised you had more in common than you thought with someone, and even the ones where you felt alone and decided that this wasn’t something you wanted to feel again. Residentials make space for things like this, space for everyone involved to learn a little more about themselves and the people they’re going to spend the next few years of their life with.

This year was no exception. Sleepless nights led to new dawns, where it wasn’t always easy to find the motivation to climb 30ft into the air, sink rapidly into a freezing lake or even just walk to breakfast.  But when the motivation was difficult to find, that’s where the relationships, determination, resilience, confidence and character grew.  As much as residentials are packed with activities, they’re equally filled with moments in between that provide opportunity to take stock and grow as individuals within our community.

All of this could be going on at any school, but the character centred focus of life at Finborough, means that it is an integral experience where students are able to consciously recognise their character strengths emerging.  It is because of this that they and we (the staff) reap so many rewards from these trips every year.

This year in particular children from the Prep School showed leadership, maturity and resilience in droves; caring for and looking out for each other in moments of uncertainty and making mutual strides in self confidence, strength and mental fortitude.  Senior School students echoed this and were commended by camp leaders for their attitude, behaviour and perseverance.  When facing adverse weather they took every opportunity to confront the range of tasks head on. 

Every single child pushed themselves, climbed higher, felt more deeply and went further than they thought they could. For some it was their first time away from home and even making the attempt to stay away for a night was a monumental triumph, while for others unearthing leadership characteristics, empathy and self belief that had been waiting to emerge, was the biggest take away.

Josh Golga, Prep 6 Teacher

NB: Often we are asked why we have taken the decision to run residentials at the start of the school year when children are settling in, rather than at the end. We do this to establish a sense of belonging for all students, new and existing and to initiate our powerful cycle of character development providing the best possible foundation for the year ahead.