At Adcote School, we firmly believe in challenging our girls at every opportunity.
And whilst yes, academically challenging them is important, as part of our CLEAR Learning Programme – focused on nurturing Confidence, Leadership, Engagement, Achievement, and Resilience – we also like to challenge them in a variety of ways that will shape them into confident young women ready to take on the world, in a manner no exam paper ever could.
We’re talking about our Challenge Days. When a girl joins the Adcote family they are sorted into one of three Houses (Harry Potter style), and will spend their days here in either Glenmore, Haughton, or Innage (a nod to the three residences we called home during our first twenty years, before moving into our current Grade 1 Listed glorious setting in 1927). As part of this House system, and underpinning our CLEAR learning values, are our Challenge Days.
So what is an Adcote Challenge Day?
Think STEM, film making, and singing. Think Armed Forces. And yes, even ‘I’m a Celebrity’! Three times a year, amidst the usual hustle and bustle of each school term, we set aside the time for an exciting, fun, and downright different day that students and staff combined either look forward to, or dread – but one that all ultimately enjoy in the end!
Challenge Days are a whole school event that see our three Houses compete against each other to earn House points (something we keep a running total of throughout the school year with many other mini-events and individual awards etc. too), and they’re a fantastic way for our older girls to step into leadership roles and encourage and support their younger House members for a collaborative team effort!
What challenges do our girls take part in?
Absolutely anything! We’re always up for fun and fabulous suggestions from our girls – just as long as it’s something culture-focused, problem-solving, team-building, or confidence nurturing/comfort-zone abandoning.
Let’s take a brief look back over some of our favourites, and how what the girls took part in supported their development and confidence …
Our September 2023 Challenge Day included a range of fantastic challenges, including a bush tucker trial (we really weren’t joking about ‘I’m a Celebrity’). And yes, this did involve eating meal worms, crickets, and even grasshoppers – all in the name of education though, of course!
For this challenge, some of our Senior girls were given one clear mission, which was to create a protein smoothie for the future. They had to allocate roles to each team member, from taste testers and data managers to graphic designers and marketing gurus.
Drawing the short straw, the taste testers had to taste different protein sources from a selection of bugs, beans, tofu, dry oats, soya milk and kiwi fruit, before describing the textures and flavours to their teammates. These descriptions were used to score each protein source, and combining these scores with an analysis of the supplied nutritional information, the data managers then had the task of determining the most appropriate protein source for the smoothie. Graphic designers were tasked with creating a poster for the end product, and the marketing managers then took over to develop advertising slogans, a musical jingle, and a catchy strapline.
That same Challenge Day saw some thought-provoking STEM content, when our Juniors took part in the Crest Superstar Challenge, providing a great introduction to problem-solving in STEM through a series of practical hands-on challenges that enabled them to explore the world around them. These included ‘Hole in my Bucket’ where they had to problem-solve and fix a leak using a selection of materials, ‘Sticky Problems’ which involved glue making and testing, and ‘Bridged Blunder’ which saw them fixing a broken bridge and weight testing their work. Our upper Seniors and Sixth Form girls had the Army come in to put them through their paces with a variety of teambuilding challenges and to give an informative careers talk.
Last September, our Cultural Challenge Day was designed to promote awareness among our girls, educating them on the different cultures that exist around the world. They took part in an African drumming workshop, they learnt the art of Scottish dancing in the Great Hall, they got creative with literacy, languages and some fantastic flags artwork, and they took part in a fun ‘Where in the World’ quiz to broaden their understanding and thoroughly test their knowledge.
Other activities enjoyed on our Challenge Days have included a gun run, a ‘Walk to Warsaw’, a lunar coding challenge, a bubble show, feather balancing, den building, raft building, abseiling down the big tree in our grounds, and locking the girls in the Adcote cellar (purely escape-room style, honest!)
What is the point of these Challenge Days?
We don’t just eat bugs for bugs sake! It’s all in the name of education.
Take the bush tucker trial for example – whether it’s forming a narrative to give an accurate description on textures and flavours, analysing various sources of data to aid decision-making, or getting creative with artwork or language – every role in this challenge was carefully curated to help carve curiosity, craft confidence, and create Celebrity style Bush Tuckers along the way!
In short, Challenge Days at Adcote are uniquely fun and hugely loved days with an educational twist! They support our CLEAR learning values and exist to regularly push our girls outside of their own individual comfort zones, to unite them in teamwork across all year groups, and to help shape the community we’re so incredibly fortunate to enjoy at Adcote every single day – with a little competition thrown in for good measure!