Back in December Year 7, 8 and 9 students from The Ridgeway School ASC SRP (otherwise known as Silver Block) embarked on an exciting trip to an ice rink in South Cerny. As an end-of-term trip we decided to give students what the experience of ice-skating would look like. Although some were petrified, for example, some year 7s and 8s that haven’t done this before, they quickly adapted to it in a way that could encourage them to plausibly go and try it again.
Even I was flabbergasted at the physical effects of ice but soon enough, confidence built up and I got used to it. The other newbies-to-ice-skating would most likely agree. They had as much fun as the rest of the students. Ava and Lila were the most extravagant, pulling quite some cinema-like ice-skating skills for us to see. Furthermore, Theo - one of the Year 9s - helped some students to keep on going, letting their fears go so they could focus more on embracing ice-skating.
After speaking to a few witnessing members of staff who supervised the students, they felt that the students gained the following benefits:
- Overcoming fears and anxiety
- Challenging oneself
- Leaving the comfort zone to go bold
- Bouncing back and being resilient
- Perseverance in ice-skating
- Wonderful opportunities to make bonds
As the activity came to an end, we reluctantly returned our skates. After a half-an-hour ride and some thinking, I think we should do this again next year, or at least some fun midweek activity that will unwind the mind.
Kind regards, Dewan
