Foundation Magazine 2021-2022 | Mount Kelly

ADVENTURE
OLGA
ADVENTURE
Over a few weeks in September
2021, pupils in Years 7 and 9
were offered the opportunity to
experience an introduction to offshore
sailing onboard Mount Kelly’s boat Olga.
Cruising in coastal waters off Plymouth,
the day sails aim to foster the Mount
Kelly values of teamwork, leadership,
resilience, tolerance, self-confidence and
courage and hopefully whet our pupils’
appetites to work towards internationallyrecognised
sailing qualifications in the
future. The day sails proved very popular
again with the majority of pupils in the
year groups setting sail and working as
a team to spend a full day out at sea.
Staff members also got the chance to
head out with the pupils which provides a
fantastic opportunity for out-of-classroom
relationships to be formed, deepening
trust, respect and communication
between both staff and pupils alike.
Shortly after Mount Kelly’s adoption of
Olga as the School Boat, we took on
the refurbishment of her tender. This
small, elderly, clinker-built rowing boat
had been sadly neglected for many
years and came to us in a sorry state in
October 2019, but after many months of
hard work – interrupted, of course, by
Covid-19 – we were delighted to hand
her back this September, decked out in
the school colours, to Ben Williams of the
Tectona Trust. The project was headed
up by Gary Collard, the Head of Design
Technology at the College, and by Andy
Westlake, the Design Technician. She will
return to her rightful place on Olga’s portside
deck, and will be much-used for runs
ashore.
On 4 and 5 April we saw six pupils
from Years 7-8 take to the waters
from Plymouth including an overnight
on board. All pupils showed fantastic
teamwork throughout and were a credit
to the school. Harry Lewis showed great
perseverance to continue to helm the
boat, stay engaged and fully involved
despite sea sickness. Felix Bosacki
and Charlie Barnaby also showed great
attitudes to get fully involved in all aspects
of the sailing whilst Henry Hardick, Oliver
Simpson and Lewie Harrison worked
hard when hoisting sails and showed
great manners and attitudes.
This summer eight pupils from Years
6-8 had the chance to extend their
experiences and sail for three days from
Plymouth on Olga, experiencing night
sailing and the magical experience of
being at sea without land being in sight.
They made the trip from Plymouth across
to Looe and were able to enjoy some
stunning scenery from a view many of us
will never experience. A top effort by all
of them allowed an amazing experience
for everyone.
This summer we had two longer sailing
trips including a DofE residential which
saw eight young people take to the
seas for seven days. The pupils were
from a range of schools including Mount
Kelly, Churston Grammar and Torquay
Grammar. The trip was a great success
with new friendships being formed and
some fantastic teamwork on display. The
crew had hoped to make it to the Isles
of Scilly but despite the lovely weather
of the summer it was not playing ball for
this voyage. They therefore stayed on
the south coast and sailed along to Looe
and Falmouth where they were able to
go ashore and enjoy some time on the
beaches and in the stunning town. The
highlight of the trip for all was having
dolphins swim alongside the boat on two
occasions and also getting all five sails
up on their homeward journey to see the
power that Olga can muster.
We also had two pupils sail on the Tall
Ships Youth Trust expedition which sailed
for seven days out of Southampton. They
had an amazing time completing their
DofE Gold residential with other onboard
the more technical boat compared
to Olga. A fantastic experience and a
chance to really show off their leadership,
teamwork and communication skills that
they have developed throughout their
Gold DofE journey so far.
Both of the above voyages have once
again been fully sponsored by the
Conway Merchant Navy Trust who
continue to assist pupils to complete
both their DofE expedition and residential
sections of their Gold awards. Without
their generosity and time, we would not
have been able to lay on these voyages
and the ten pupils involved would not
have had these amazing, life changing
experiences.
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