Field Day – Oct 2026
Last Friday our Field Day saw students take part in a host of different Seckford Scheme activities, as has become tradition in School twice each year.
For our Year 9 to 13 CCF cadets, the timing couldn’t have been better, since it coincided with National Cadet Week. Providing the perfect opportunity for students to experience everything CCF has to offer and more, each section took part in different activities in different locations, with our Royal Navy cadets taking part in the first National Cadet Week celebrations in Portsmouth.
For other students, particularly those in Years 7 and 8, there were also a variety of activities on offer in and around School, including Mandarin drumming, calligraphy and Ba Duan Jin, climbing and strategic Chess, and even an opportunity for some of our artists to visit the local town and be creative!
It was an exciting and jam-packed Field Day for everyone who took part and students certainly made the most of every opportunity. Thank you to everyone who organised activities and to our students who represented the School and themselves so well.
Ambushes, paintball, patrolling and more for our Army cadets
Our Army cadets had a fantastic 24 hours in the field last week. Thursday night was spent conducting two platoon ambushes. On Friday there was a rotation of different stands; these included occupying and holding a defensive position, paintball, fire and movement and patrolling skills. A little rain overnight gave the cadets extra motivation to get their shelters up properly, and definitely didn’t ruin their experience – well done to everyone who took part.
RAF Wattisham for Army and RAF cadets
Year 9 Army and RAF cadets spent field day at RAF Wattisham, kindly hosted by 7REME. The day started with a PT session, just as it would with the regulars, consisting of both strength and cardio activities. Cadets then experienced lunch in the field – a very enjoyable container meal – before being taken to see one of the Apache helicopters stationed there. The afternoon was spent doing a logistical command task, learning about life in the army and having a closer look at the helicopters. All in all, a very enjoyable day was had by all and the cadets were great ambassadors for the School.
Night navigation, coded messages and fieldcraft exercises at RAF Barnham
RAF cadets had a brilliant time at the Zulu training area near RAF Barnham. They navigated the training area at night, searching for clues to enable them to construct electronic equipment to transmit coded messages to an extraction point. On the second day they completed a series of fieldcraft exercises. This included casualty recovery following a simulated chemical weapons incident and practising navigation skills in challenging conditions. Cadets also constructed their own shelters and successfully kept dry throughout a rainy evening.
Night exercises, bushcraft and more for Royal Navy cadets
Our Royal Navy cadets travelled to Harkstead where they spent the evening cooking on Trangias and setting up camp. The NCOs ran a night exercise; surviving the heavy rain and strong wind, they awoke on Friday to bushcraft, raft building and a field gun exercise. On Saturday some of our cadets went to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard to take part in the first National Cadet Week celebrations there. The cadets watched field gun and band demonstrations, saw HMS Prince of Wales and watched the helicopters taking off, visited HMS Victory (saluting as they went on board) and took part in Esports, Royal Marine fitness challenges, STEM initiatives, reaction and cognitive tests. There were many stalls to show different aspects of what is on offer both for RN/RM cadets and within the RN and RM as a career; it was a wonderful experience for everyone.
Sharing their thoughts from the day , thank you to our Royal Navy cadets for their feedback:
“I really enjoyed talking to the officers about wing design, undercarriage mechanics and how the submarines use electrolysis. The tour around HMS Victory was very eye opening regarding scale of the equipment and the actual ship. Being able to watch the RM band parade on the strip and the Gun Run team demonstrate was incredibly impressive.”
“Being at the center of the Navy and hearing from those who are in it currently is really interesting and useful as I would like to join when I’m older. Also walking around HMS Victory, the only commissioned ship of the navy not in the water, was incredible and really brought the history of Nelson to life!”
“Everyone was super friendly and the small games they had on each stall were fun! I was really surprised by the terminology test, I never knew why the marines were called bootnecks but now I do!”
“Thank you so much for all of the events we saw with so many other talented cadets. Also including the cool tour of the HMS victory. I Will come back to beat the hang test record!”
“Thank you very much for this very insightful experience of the Navy and the opportunity to see the HMS Prince of Wales as it has been on my list of the things I wanted to see since a child and was truly amazing and aspire to someday work on there.”
“I loved the BFBS section in the museum. Being able to see the E sports community for the extended military was very exciting. Also competing in the Royal Marines strength challenges was super fun for those watching, quite for exhausting me though but worth it. Thank you for the experience, we all really enjoyed it.”
“Thank you so much for this incredible opportunity! I really enjoyed seeing the band and finding out more about life in the navy. The tour of the HMS Victory was really interesting and I had so much fun.”
Mandarin calligraphy, drumming and more
As part of October Field Day, Year 7 enjoyed three exciting workshops that introduced them to different aspects of Chinese culture: Calligraphy, Ba Duan Jin, and Drumming. During the Calligraphy workshop, students learned about the history of Chinese characters and practised brush pen writing with Mrs Letts. In the Ba Duan Jin workshop, they were guided by Mr Wong through a series of traditional mind-body exercises that promote health and wellbeing. Meanwhile, Mrs Tse introduced students to Chinese drumming, teaching them about rhythms, timing, and drumming techniques. The morning was both educational and enjoyable, giving pupils a valuable opportunity to experience and appreciate Chinese culture firsthand.
First aid, self-defence and public speaking
Year 8 were treated to three valuable life lessons – first aid, self-defence and public speaking – with all students throwing themselves into the activities. Visiting instructors were extremely impressed with our students’ enthusiasm and desire to learn and hopefully the students will have come away having learnt something.
Climbing high in Norfolk
Students travelled to Highball Climbing Centre in Norwich as part of Field Day 2026. Highball, Norfolk’s oldest and largest bouldering centre, has been built by climbers, for climbers, and has a huge variety of walls and climbs for all abilities. For some students this was the first time they’d stepped onto a climbing wall of this scale or challenge level, for others it was an opportunity to test limits. Everyone had a fantastic time, working together, supporting one another and challenging themselves, helping them not only to build confidence but have great fun while doing so!
Artists visit Woodbridge Town
Having spent time looking at artists who study urban scenery and historic architecture in pencil, pen and watercolour ‘en plein air’, students then took the short walk from School to Market Hill in our beautiful town – their art kits in hands ready to get creative! With some wonderful outcomes students then walked back to School to refine and improve their work.
Chess and strategic thinking
Chess was also on the ‘table’ for some of our students, with numerous over-the-board battles, both in chess and Settlers of Catan. Competitive jigsaw solving in Carcassonne and an in-depth session on the use of probabilistic strategies in partial information situations (Texas hold ‘em) certainly kept students busy and engaged.
