KidsOut Day Out

Rotary Club of Billericay took 42 children plus 25 staff from Thriftwood School on a day out at Old MacDonald’s Farm as part of National Rotary KidsOut Day.  This was the biggest group we have taken on a KidsOut day; too big a group to fit in a single coach, so a few had to travel separately in the school minibus.

Come the day, Peter Greene and Les Sheppard (who as Community Service chairman had made the arrangements for the day) were in the Old MacDonald’s car park to greet Mrs Rayner and the advance party who arrived in the school minibus, followed a few minutes later by the coach. Bright yellow KidsOut T-shirts (easy to spot from a distance!) were distributed and, following a group photograph, we were shown through to our reserved classroom area where the children were able to leave back-packs and lunches safely until needed.
Mrs Rayner had had organised the children into groups of 4-6, each with the necessary adults to supervise. The groups were then free to explore the site, with instructions to meet back at our classroom base (half of them for 11am and the rest at noon) for a half-hour guided petting tour; a chance to get up close and stroke some of the animals.

Hands-on

Our guides for the tours were Amber and Tom. After the obligatory health and safety rules (keep washing your hands) they led us to the first stop – into the Farmyard Friends barn to see some sheep and goats and a chance to stroke the Shetland pony.  Once everyone had had a turn (and washed their hands), Tom led us to the Little Creatures barn to see the chipmunks, gecko and tiny tortoise while Amber held one of the pygmy hedgehogs for the children to stroke (carefully!).

Then, hands washed again, it was off past the goat enclosure, the owls, otters, meerkats and donkeys to the Rabbitry to meet the guinea pigs and rabbits.  Amber retrieved a very large white rabbit for another stroking opportunity – much softer than the prickly hedgehog.

That brought the guided tour to its end and the groups were then free to carry on around the site to see the wide variety of other animals, including sheep, deer, young chickens, highland cattle and the alpacas, plus, of course, enjoy the rides and play areas.

Time for Lunch

As it was a pleasant sunny day, the groups didn’t stay in the classroom for lunch but each group individually took their snacks and drinks to one of the many covered picnic areas around the site.  Having eaten, about an hour and a half remained to tour the grounds again and have another go on the various rides and play areas, including the Carousel, the JCB Construction Zone, the Tractors, the Crazy Barn Ride, the Train Ride and the Giant Snake Slide, which seemed to be especially popular.

The only ‘disaster’ of the day was when one of the children dropped their water bottle in the alpaca enclosure and it rolled the wrong side of an electric fence. Fortunately Amber and Tom were working nearby and came to our rescue.

All too soon the fun had to end and the groups gradually reassembled back in the classroom or the soft play area just beside the exit. At 2pm we all made our way outside and our guests boarded the coach and minibus for the journey back to school.

Golden Time

To round off the day, one of the children asked the teachers if they could have ‘Golden Time’ when they got back to school, to which another of the children called out “The whole of today is Golden Time!”.
All in all, a very successful KidsOut day.

Years of fun!

The first National Rotary KidsOut Day took place in 1990, since when it has grown into the biggest single outing for disadvantaged children in the UK, with over 20,100 children taken out by over 2,300 Rotary volunteers in 2023.  Our involvement again this year was just one of the hundreds of groups of children entertained as part of the Rotary KidsOut event nationally.

Thanks for everything

We thought everybody had a good day - we certainly did!  

So imagine our delight when on July 1 we received special thank you cards from the four classes involved - one from each class.

We show these above.

Thank you so much, Thriftwood!