Fun at Field School

Twenty one children from Brightstart Montessori School and Luderitz Christian School spent a week facing their fears and completing tough challenges at Kubub Veld School near Aus. The learners aged 8-12, left for Aus after school on Friday 16th April and on arrival were told the important rules, then instantly asked to pack a bag with what they would need to sleep outside for a night. Most of the children trawled suitcases on wheels, wash bags, medical kits and cool boxes to the dry river bed where they braai-ed their own meat on an open fire, played games and slept under the stars. After each watching the sunrise alone on a rock, the group headed back to the farm to then re-pack their bags and head out on a 20km hike. A few tears, tantrums and complaints littered the walk but all the children completed it, as well as climbing the appropriately named ‘Mount Nemesis’. Arno, the school leader also persuaded everyone including the teachers to play a childhood game of his, which involved seeing how far Kudu droppings could be spat. Following a dinner of bolognaise the children had a class on communication, which involved some interesting games and self evaluation.
Sunday was a much more restful day, kicking off with a class on thinking for themselves in terms of religion, relationships and general life experiences – ‘Dogs and baboons can be taught good habits but humans need beliefs’. The children were left to play and explore the farm while potjie cooked, then they all went on a tour around Aus’ Prison of War looking at the houses made of sand that have lasted for the 100 years while having a discussion about how ingenious the imprisoned Germans were during this time. A stop off at the Commonwealth War Graves also prompted an interesting discussion on helping your friends and enemies in times of need as well as learning what it means to be a traitor. After the educational afternoon the group then had lots of fun sliding down a rock face on hessian sacks.
Map reading was another skill gained during the week, the children were taught how to find co-ordinates and plot distances. They were all given a map of the farm and told about all the risks they might meet when walking, including leopards, ostriches, hyenas, snakes and scorpions, which could all kill them. This, mixed with the prospect of being dropped off alone somewhere on the 38,000 hectare farm with only a map and their sleeping bag in case they got lost, understandably scared nearly all of the children into crying. Arno then asked the children to write letters to their parents and families in case they died during this experience, which brought on another bought of tears. By the time the children were in the bakkie waiting to be dropped off they were terrified, the expressions of relief that flew across their faces when they realised they were being dropped off in groups of seven and fourteen were hilarious. They walked in their groups to two separate points, where they were awarded with canned food and they got to the last point at about 6pm where the winning team of girls received their prize of a can of condensed milk. ‘No rest for the wicked’ meant the children were quickly whisked off to their next challenge of climbing the infamous Mount Flosi, which they all completed bravely in the dark, learning on the way about the powers of optimism and having the ability to adjust their eyes to darkness. This prompted a late night, but all the children were still running on adrenalin at almost 1am.
On Tuesday the group was allowed a lie in after their strenuous day, and then relaxed all day doing classes on physical and mental health. Their teamwork skills were challenged on Wednesday when they spent the morning completing a difficult and dangerous obstacle course, followed by abseiling down one of the steepest rocks at the farm. All the children did fantastically well, and visibly grew within the week which they all recognised when talking about their experience at the closing ceremony on Wednesday evening. The school is designed to give children a different experience of life, discover more about themselves, challenge their boundaries, test their teamwork and learn about self discipline.