On Wednesday 26th September, 2018, Y5 enjoyed a visit from Marine Ben Curson, a member of the Royal Marines. Year 5 had a year group assembly and then each class had a one-hour session with Ben, which included a short Question and Answer session. The children were encouraged to think very deeply and ask Ben well thought-out questions.

During the assembly, Ben talked about how he became a marine, what his job involves, how his job fits into the military and how his skills help him. Some children were surprised to learn that learning does not just happen at school and even adults have to learn new skills. They were even more surprised to learn that the guns they see on video games and in films do not reflect reality! He showed the children lots of his equipment and they loved handling these unfamiliar objects. He also taught them some new vocabulary.

As part of the workshop sessions, Ben set the Y5 children three practical activities designed to help improve their communication, listening, problem-solving and team-work skills. The children were all thoroughly engaged and came up with lots of innovative ideas.

Everyone had lots of fun and learned loads.

Thank you, Ben.

Here are some quotes from our children:

“ I was really excited and shocked about some of things the Royal Marines have to go through and I 100% want to join when I’m older after having a little taster.” - Drew, Year 5

“I loved how we got to experience different training exercises which tested and challenged ourselves to the max. This made me think about how to react to stressful situations in real life and how to deal with high pressure.” – Eve, Year 5

“My favourite part of the day was getting to work part of a team outside. This has made me realise that teamwork skills can help to save lives”. – Kevin, Year 5