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BTEC Students
Get Scary
in Haunting
Halloween Event
A group of Year 12 BTEC
Children’s Learning,
Development students met with
Clive Adams at Brueton Park,
Solihull, for a haunting night on
the 31st October.
“Haunting Halloween” has been
going strong for seven years,
and visitors wishing to take part
were encouraged to pre book
their tickets as the event does
sell very quickly. One hundred
and eighty five tickets were sold
to the general public and tickets
were sold out from the first week
of September. This is not unusual
as Haunting Halloween is a
popular fixture on the calendar.
After arriving at 4.30 our students
along with additional volunteers
were given scary attire to get
dressed from head to toe.
At the small price of £2 the
children were able to enjoy fun
and games lasting over an hour
and a half. The ticket holders
were spilt into five groups of 35
children and adults, with the
first group starting the sessions
at 5.30pm and then on going
every 20 minutes with the
last group starting at 6.50pm.
Everyone arrived on time eager
to start a night of fun and games,
all dressed up in Halloween
costumes. To start off the night
one child from every group won
a prize for best costume.
Little did the visitors to the park
know that some of our year 12
students would be participating
in the evening’s ghostly activities.
When the students arrived they
were instructed to hide along the
trail around the park and jump
out unexpectedly in front of the
visitors. Holding themselves back
in their places for each of the five
groups to approach, the students
waited patiently. Along the trail
there were two various stop off
points where professional story
tellers told ghost stories to keep
the children engrossed. One of
these storytellers being
accompanied by
two owls
was
excellent
in helping
to create a scary
atmosphere in the woods. At
the end of the trail there was
an optional craft session held
at the educational centre next
to the café. Here the children
accompanied by their parents
were able to enjoy a hot drink
and cake as well as having fun
making masks and costumes in
the warmth of the classroom.
Sophie Magill, said that “I really
enjoyed the event; it was a laugh
and a good opportunity for us
to visit the park. The time we
spent there has helped us on
our course as we gained hours
for work experience, although
we did spend four hours in the
freezing cold. It was a good event
for the children as they seemed
to have enjoyed themselves a lot.
Some of the children didn’t find
our costumes scary at all, and
thought of us as trolls because
we were stuck hiding under a
bridge.”
Park Ranger
Adrian
Crowe
concluded
that ‘our
students have
helped make this year’s event
more enjoyable for visitors, and it
is really important that they did
take part’.
BTEC course Coordinator
Rebecca Griffith confirmed
that through participating
in Haunting Halloween, her
students ‘have gained practical
experience of being with children
who they have not worked
with before. The girls have also
benefitted through obtaining
more hours for the professional
practice component of their
course’. Students enrolled on the
BTEC Children’s Care, Learning
and Development course are
required to complete a number
of hours of work experience in
order to complete their studies.
Rebecca Griffith concluded that
her students were also able to
bond with each other outside
of the classroom environment,
and as a result. She is keen to
encourage her next intake of year
12 students to also participate
in this fun, community focused
event.
Tickets were available to
purchase by phone and via the
Tourist Information and Arts
complex at the central library
in Solihull. Visitors wishing to
take part in the event were
encouraged to pre book their
tickets as the event does sell very
quickly.
Haunting Halloween is a local
event organized by the Events
and marketing team and park
rangers who work for Solihull
council. The event was a great
success as it pulls the community
together and allows the public to
visit Brueton Park at night.
Solihull council organise a
number of regular events that
you may not be aware of but
may like to take part in. There
is a “Solihull Parks Event Guide
2010” that you can pick up from
the library. This guide contains
information on events for both
adults and children from music
and festivals to educational
activities. For more information,
visit www.solihull.gov.uk/events.
Nicole White,13 Aslam
InsideOut December 2010
13