Hindleap Warren 2025

Year 7 students had the most amazing weekend at Hindleap Warren – building friendships, throwing themselves into new experiences, and of course, getting stuck into some mud.

Below, students share their thoughts on the unforgettable residential trip:

Chryshelle (Y7): “Hindleap Warren gave us a most welcome break from normal classroom learning and allowed us to learn outside in a different setting, with lots of greenery and fresh air.  Between the adrenaline-filled activities, we could relax in the games room for a leisurely game of table tennis. The centre is in quite a remote and peaceful environment – the perfect place to get cosy with a good book and let the world disappear around you.”

Imogen (Y7): “During my time at Hindleap Warren, some of my favourite activities were the high adventures. This trip helped me overcome my perceived fear of heights; I learned that heights aren’t that bad after all!

“One of the first activities that I tried on the trip was the climbing tower. When it was my turn to climb, I felt anxious and quite frightened, and I thought to myself that I would never be able to reach the top. When I started climbing, my heart was racing and it was quite scary, but much to my surprise, after the first few climbing holds, it became really fun.“Halfway through the climb, I felt like I had to stop, but with our group leader Josh and all of my friends cheering me on, I persevered and made it all the way to the top!

“Another activity that I tried at Hindleap Warren was the seesaw tower. This was probably my favourite activity after the mud walk. The seesaw tower is shaped rather like a giant ladder. The rungs are made up of planks and wires to climb, each with a different degree of difficulty. The first level was easy: all you had to do was walk up a tilted plank. As you climbed higher up the tower, however, the difficulty — and fear factor — grew. While I was waiting for my turn, I kept changing my mind about whether I wanted to try the hardest level at the top. As Josh tightened my harness, he assured me that I would be fine and convinced me that it wasn’t too scary. I decided to go all the way to the top, and it was wonderful!

“I am sure that I would have definitely regretted not trying these high adventures and challenging the fears I thought I had. I know now that with a bit of courage and cheering on from my friends, I can climb high!”

Charlotte (Y7): “The most challenging part of the trip for me was the Mud Walk. It was also the most memorable part of Hindleap Warren, but was this for the right or wrong reasons?!

“First, all of us had to gear up with waterproofs and wellies, and off we went into the forests of Sussex, ready for an adventure! As the mud slowly got deeper and deeper, the instructors led us to believe that we must look out for drop bears and make loud sounds to ward them off. Little did we know that when we got home and searched for drop bears to see what they looked like, we discovered that they weren’t real and that we had been tricked…

“After a long—but super fun—trek through a muddy river with lots of natural obstacles, such as a mini cliff or an unexpected deep spot in the mud, we finally reached what we had been waiting for. Everyone took it in turns to jump into a giant, freezing, muddy puddle that went up to our necks, and some people even got fully submerged in the swamp! Although it was a little bit gross (especially after we found the frog spawn), we were so happy that we had done it and got an experience that we will never forget.

“We also had lots of fun on the super spooky night walk through the woods. Everyone wrapped up warm, got out their torches, and we went for a super spooky walk through the woods in the dark. With just our torches to guide us, we had to watch our every step to make sure we didn’t lose our footing on the uneven ground. Eventually, we got to a clearing in the trees, and the beauty of the night sky was revealed to us, with twinkling stars shining down on us. Our informative instructors used their powerful torches to point out the North Star, Orion’s Belt, the Big Dipper, and various other constellations. We all had a really good night, and when we got back to our dorms, we pretty much fell asleep on the spot as we had had such a busy day full of exciting adventures and challenges.”