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Newbury Rainforest
2nd Years – April
As part of the Lent Term’s Geography syllabus
included the study of rainforests, it was very
helpful to be able to visit the one at Newbury,
even though it could give only a glimpse of
what life is like inAmazonia, where there are
more than 13 million distinct species.We were
given an expert tour around the multifarious
assortment of botanical exhibits, with plenty
of interesting questions and answers along the
way.There was then time for the boys to go
off and explore, drawing and writing in their
journals things which caught their attention
or completing various questions they’d
missed first time around.They also discovered
how rainforest plants bring us many of our
medicines, as well as inspiring the development
of Goretex.Various creatures added to the
fascination of this trip: the carefully hidden
two-toed sloth, sleeping in the canopy of
the greenhouse; the pigmy monkeys, who
we saw being fed; a hissing cockroach, polite
but watchful; the red-billed toucan with its
impertinent shriek at regular intervals; and the
big, scary, hairy tarantula who was hiding in
her lair under some branches.There were times
when you could easily imagine actually being in
the real rainforest, as it was hot and humid and
full of exotic plants and sounds.
RHB
Go-Karting at Silverstone
Removes – May
The cacophony of noise, hot
engine fumes and excitement
all made the day a fiercely
fought battle for supremacy
on the track – it was almost
like a Grand Prix.
Without the technical sophistication
of Formula 1, though, it all came down
to the ability of the individual driver. I
was extremely impressed by the level of
competence the boys displayed in their
racing and I had to fight to keep my
position and time in every lap. It was all
about gaining the fastest average time over
four fifteen-minute track sessions (80 +
laps).
All the boys were given a ten-minute
pre-race safety briefing from the race
official so that they understood what the
yellow and red warning lights meant and
what the blue and black flags indicated.
We were all fitted into fire retardant racing
suits, balaclavas, gloves and helmets. The
safety marshals took up their strategically
located positions around the track before
the first five cars started the fifteen-minute
warm-up. The race was on!
The best lap times were:
Rigby
Swarovski-Adams
(35.545 seconds),
Jack Maxwell
(35.819), RHB (36.196)
and
Iichiro Koizumi
(36.425). The circuit
times recorded by adults that week, all
experienced drivers, averaged 30.143
seconds. Could we soon see a Formula 1
SummerfieldianWorld Champion?
RHB
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6
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