Ben's Blog

The second cross country school event that Ben took part in was at Eggbuckland school. As it was after school, I was able to leave work a little earlier to go and watch him.  He did very well and came 24th out of about 60 in the boys race for his age, which was very good as there were some excellent runners taking part.  His boys team ended up being runners up, which was good. In fact, all of the Bickleigh teams for both boys and girls were either 1st or 2nd overall. Ben got another nice certificate for taking part but he found this one more difficult as it was quite hilly at Eggbuckland school, and it was windy and cold, so not ideal conditions.  Hopefully he will be in the team in the New Year for more races as the next race was for less people so he couldn’t take part in it, which was a shame, as Ben is number 6 in the team order.

Ben had a great residential week towards the north coast of Cornwall near Torrington. He got up to loads of things including quad biking, bodyboarding, a mud race, shooting a real gun/rifle and generally having a great time!  On the Tuesday of the week, it was Ben’s 11th birthday, so he wasn’t home this year with us to celebrate, which was a shame.  They did let him ring us in the evening though, so we could say hello and wish him a happy birthday, and they did manage to decorate his room with birthday banners whilst he was in the bathroom.  He ended up in a room with a few other boys, all of which were friends of his, although the rowdier ones, and it sounded like they didn’t get much sleep at all as he looked completely shattered when he got home on the Friday morning. At least they were allowed to be picked up straight from drop off by the coach, which was about 11:30.  The night before his last day, they had a disco, which he said was good fun. They had a cooked breakfast and hot meal every day as part of the trip and it sounded like the food was lovely as Ben said there was a massive choice, including curry, which he had but said it was too spicy for him!!  There was also a little shop on the premises so he was able to spend his money on some sweets and little gizmos during the week. Anyway, even though it cost over £300 for him to go, it sounded like it was a very good experience for him and they did so many activities that it was worth it. 😉

Last night, we filled in Ben’s Secondary School application form and we have all (finally) decided on Ivybridge CC as the 1st choice, with Tavistock as the 2nd and Eggbuckland as the 3rd. It was a hard decision as Ivybridge is far and away the best school, and Ben’s preferred choice, but it costs £63 per month for 10 months for a seat on the school bus, whereas Tavistock reimburse you the bus fare. However, Ivybridge provide an excellent private bus service with Ben’s bus stop being opposite Bickleigh School, so within very easy distance. With Tavistock, even though the bus is free, you have to catch a public bus from the bottom of Tesco roundabout, which means that it could be late or there may be no guarantee of a space.  Kelly and I both felt that the safety of the Ivybridge bus was much better really, even if we did have to pay for it. For Eggbuckland, we don’t currently know how Ben would get there but it would cost over £50 per month and would mean he would probably have to catch two buses and then still have a 20 minute walk to the school. We did all think Tavistock and Eggbuckland were good schools, but Ivybridge was way out in front really.  It took us so long to decide because of the cost of the bus but hopefully we will manage and it should give Ben the best education in the area – as long as he gets in! We know have to wait until 20th March 2020 to know if he has been accepted or not. What a long wait that will be!!

Last Saturday, Ben got the Man Of The Match award from the opposite team’s manager, which he was very pleased about! Unfortunately, they lost 7-1 to Marjons Youth, but at least it cheered him up a bit! He played very well again and was deservedly chosen as the best Kolts player as he didn’t stop running and tackling and played in several positions during the game such as Centre Midfield, Right Back and Upfront. Hopefully he can keep this up and get many more MOTM awards!

Yesterday, Ben took part in the first Cross Country event of the term at Plymbridge Meadows. He did extremely well and ended up 14th out of about 60 children in his race! Awesome! Bickleigh School won the overall championship in all the age groups as well, so it was a great first event for him. Ben should hopefully get a nice certificate at school as well. Hopefully this will spur him on to get higher up the order in the next race! Kelly was able to go and see him run as well, as she was giving some of the other boys a lift, so she was very pleased to see him do so well.