Oswestry Cambrian Rotary member Ian Slipper supplied an emergency shelter, similar to ones used for international disaster relief around the world. Students had to erect the ShelterBOX which comes in the form of a sturdy, 10-person tent complete with a stove and cooking equipment, blankets, water containers and filtration, toolkits, mosquito nets and clothing. All packed into a sturdy green box. Rotary clubs around the world fund raise for ShelterBOX, an international disaster relief charity.

Students at Adcote School for Girls, at Nesscliffe near Shrewsbury, were put through their paces in a ‘disaster day’ which tested their team working and survival skills.

Other tasks ranged from ‘treating casualties’ of a simulated road traffic accident’, to command tasks set by the Army and building an international disaster shelter.

Senior School pupils were taught by First Responder Amanda Stevens how to deal with road traffic accident victims before they put their new skills into practice by ‘treating’ Sixth Form volunteers playing the role of injured casualties inside a ‘crashed’ car.

Meanwhile the Engagement Team from the 11 Signals Brigade, based at Donnington, Telford, set pupils a series of command exercises.

Students were also challenged to construct a rope A-frame to transport ‘heavy ammunition across a ravine’, build a rope stretcher to carry an ‘injured person’ across an obstacle course, get a team of people through a hole in an ‘electrified’ fence, design a barracks on a budget and learn semaphore morse code using flags.

Meanwhile, Prep School pupils got to grips with outdoor survival skills including how to build a shelter in the wild, light fires using natural tinder and bushcraft first aid using comfrey poultices.

The ‘It’s A Disaster’ Challenge Day kick-started the new school year with team building exercises to help students in new form groups get to know each other by working together to solve physical and mental tasks and develop their leadership skills, confidence, resilience, and ingenuity at the same time.

Specific Challenge Days are organised once a term, as part of the programme, immersing students in new experiences and pushing them outside of their comfort zones.

Headmistress Diane Browne said: “Our Challenge Days build character and, importantly, are great fun! For us, as educators, it is enormously rewarding to see girls blossom in character, leadership and, particularly, resilience, as they tackle and conquer the challenges presented to them, forming character traits they will be able to use in the classroom to take their learning forward.”

Oswestry Cambrian Rotary have an Interact club at Adcote School. Interact is a Rotary club for young people ages 12-18 who want to connect with others in their community or school.

The Oswestry Cambrian Rotary is ready to welcome men, women, or couples of 18+ from the local community who want to be “people of action”.  They normally meet at The Wynnstay Hotel, Church Street, Oswestry on Thursday evenings at 7.45pm and meet in the bar. For more information on what their new style of Rotary has to offer contact Mike Lade on 01691 570917, info@oswestrycambrianrc.co.uk or see www.oswestrycambrianrc.co.uk.

Pictured: Adcote pupils erecting a Shelter tent and other equipment in a Shelter Box.