By Charley Hacquoil & Brandon Birrell

In the heart of St. Aubin’s, on a rocky island with a lot of history, stands a fort where Year 5 from Mont Nicolle School stayed for a whole three days along with Mr. Colin Masterman (Headteacher) and Mrs. Vibert (Year 5 teacher). Some parents also came along. This all took place between the 10th and 12th September 2007. We had some wonderful weather, perfect for some exciting sailing, buoy construction, map-making, beach exploring, razor fishing and sketching the fantastic landscape. This adventure was so that we could all experience activities that we could never do in our classroom.
Whilst we were at the Fort, one of the activities was sailing. Mrs. Vibert put us into challenge teams to rig an Oppie (Optimist dinghy) and a Fun Boat. Mr Pearl and Andy, our instructors, demonstrated how to srig the dinghy, then the catamaran. It looked very hard to remember how to do it, but when we actually did it, it was quite easy. Also we needed good team work to rig it all up. An adult watched each team as they rigged the boats, and gave us a score out of ten. We were given a feedback sheet showing how we had worked in groups and we all then had to write about how we thought we had worked together. The boys’ group won the rigging competition and believe me, now they were very happy!
Our first day sailing. Once we had rigged the boats we were ready to sail. First of all we had to sail towards a buoy near Belcroute Bay and on the way there learn how to steer, go straight and stop the boat from capsizing and of course go fast. On the way back to the Fort we did a perfect tack (turn) and we all cheered,
Charley Hacquoil commented "When we went sailing in ‘Fun Boats’, we all experienced and enjoyed being out in the open sea. We took turns in controlling the rudder and pulling the sheet (rope) to move the sail in and out. We were all by ourselves except for the guard boat.
On the second day we did sailing again and since we all loved sailing by then we were all excited. This time we had to go in the Fun Boat from St Aubin’s Fort slipway, round the back of the Fort and end of the Fort pier, and back to the slipway where we had started from.
We also went low water fishing on the ‘Lower Zone’ of St. Aubin’s Bay. We found all sorts of creatures, such as crabs, limpets, winkles, star fish and razor fish. We actually caught several razor fish by using salt. This is how we caught them; we looked for an old fashioned key hole shape in the sand and just to make sure you know what I mean, I don’t actually mean a real key hole, something that looks like one, in the sand. Making sure that we did not cast a shadow over the hole, (because the razor fish would know that we were there) we carefully poured some salt into the opening. This was to trick the fish into thinking that the tide was coming in. Then we waited patiently. As the razor fish appeared, we gently held on to it and carefully pulled the clam shell out. This had to be done very carefully because otherwise the razor fish’s foot could be pulled off and this is very important for its survival. It’s amazing to see it drill a new hole and disappear back beneath the sand.
On one of the times when we ere not sailing or exploring the shore we all made marker buoys from cane, polyspheres, correx for the top marks, and film canisters filled with gravel for the counter weights. They were tied to rocks just off the slipway, and at high tide we were able to go out in the RIB and look at them.
We all had a brilliant time at the Fort. Everyone would like to go back and do it all over again. We asked some Year 5s what they were most proud of having achieved. Kyle Stratford said sailing the Funboat, Ella Nicholls of making her buoy, and Libby Ellis-Brecknell of sleeping really well and not getting homesick. Adam Spencer is doing really well at working on his Fort book back at school. We asked Mr Masterman what he thought the benefits of this trip were.
He replied, "The Fort is a very special residential experience because you get cut off from the Island of Jersey by the tide twice a day, and you really are away from home. It is a very intense time; the children work from 7.30 in the morning until 10 at night with very few let ups. Because everyone is so focused, they hardly notice the passage of the usual school day. We bring many more activities over than we can possibly cover, but it is good to have everyone involved practically and out in the open for as much of the day as possible. Although it sounds silly, it is unusual for children to be out in the weather much these days as they are driven everywhere and spend lots of time indoors.
There is a very special magic about being here at dusk on a Spring tide, with the silhouette of Elizabeth Castle and the lights of town in the distance, and the gentle calls of the Oyster Catchers mingling with the sounds of the sea. I have been bringing children on trips to the Fort for many years, and each time it’s a special experience of which I never tire."