Camp kicked off with a morning visit to the D-Day museum in Portsmouth. We were allowed to board the Landing Craft Tank 7074 that had been preserved from the landing in 1944; we were quite amused to find out that there was a period after the war where this ship was converted into a nightclub!

We then went on a tour of the museum itself, seeing the uniforms and equipment used by the soldiers, even trying on some of the helmets ourselves.

The visit ended with us being able to catch a Red Arrows flypast by the beach in true RAF style. For the rest of the day, we worked on our weapons handling, passing our tests in order to be able to shoot blanks with our rifles on the following Fieldcraft stands.

We started the day at a First Aid stand, where we learnt how to react in an emergency and practised CPR – a straightforward but important skill to have. After that, we gave axe throwing a go, which turned out to be a lot of fun even if most of us had never done it before, especially since our team was the best!

Next was paintballing. Due to the heat, we ended up just shooting at static targets rather than doing what was originally intended – but it was still great fun and a good chance to try something new. With temperatures being high, we were given a few hours of free time in the afternoon, which everyone really appreciated as it was a chance for us to relax and bond more as a group.

In the afternoon, we had our Survival session, where we learnt how to set animal traps and collect and purify water. That evening, we found a beautiful spot in the woods to set up our harbour in order to sleep outside that night. While we were cooking our ration pack meals, 6 cadets were surprised by a field promotion, 3 of which were Kendrick cadets.

Well done to Corporals Mohan, Foster and Bensouiah!

After an early start of waking up at 0430hrs, we were quickly squaring away our kit, cooking in our mess tins and taking down our bashas.

We promptly walked to the section attack stand, the most important skill in Fieldcraft. Despite the fact that we were navigating new terrain, all 4 section attacks were very successful, with the enemy being neutralised in each.

The ambush was next, where we were perched on a ridge by our platoon commander and made to shoot down towards the road and use all of our ammo, with section commanders communicating via radio.

The final stand of the day was TIBUA (Training in Built Up Areas); we had to go into rooms and clear them of enemies, using specific techniques to make sure it was as efficient as possible.

After all that firing, the rifles needed a clean, and so, in small groups, we stripped them and got out the rags and scotchbrite. On returning to camp and to our rooms, we were happily surprised by a Domino’s pizza dinner after 2 days in the field.

As with most evenings, our evening free time was spent playing volleyball together; on one of the last days it was girls versus boys, which we definitely won.

On that day, we did adventure training, and it was a great opportunity as we got to do several activities that aren't as easily accessible outside the CCF. We began the day kayaking, paddle-boarding and raft-building at the lake. Competition was fierce as the rafts raced around the islands and tactically balanced weight to be able to spin around on the spot. It was a great opportunity to work on our teamwork and communication skills.

In the afternoon, we got to do mountain biking, climbing, archery and a bike-fixing workshop. All these activities helped develop our determination and self-confidence as they required lots of perseverance to complete, such as overcoming the obstacles in mountain biking. For me, it seemed crazy, but now I know that by giving new opportunities a firm go, anyone can overcome them. For archery as well, I had quite a few self-doubts, but it turned out to be one of my greatest successes that came into use for competition day, such as being joint-top archer amongst the 12 schools.

Overall, these activities were all very engaging (and also very physically tiring) but nevertheless solidified this as our personal favourite day.

Despite the temperatures soaring back up, we managed to have lots of fun on day five, the range day. After a long walk, we arrived at the ranges where we were able to shoot live ammunition at 100 metres and get our groupings. REME (a corps in the British Army responsible for things like engineering and maintaining and repairing army equipment) ran an engagement stand where we were allowed to carry a really heavy surface-to-air missile and ask any questions we had about possible careers in the army.  We also went clay pigeon shooting, where we had to fire at targets moving through the air with shotguns, testing our reflexes and concentration. The last stand was observation, where we used binoculars to observe a miniature model and report back to our section commanders.

The final day was competition day! After everyone was designated different stands by the CSM, we set off doing things such as the Cypher challenge, Archery and Military Knowledge.

One of the most highly anticipated events was Drill, where a team of 10 had to learn new moves such as turning on the march, practising every evening. Everyone came to watch as our uniforms were inspected and we were given our orders by the Staff Sergeant to march in quick time.

At the end of the day, there was a final parade where prizes were awarded to the best contingents - Reading School CCF came 2nd in Drill, so it was great to see our hard work pay off. We also came 2nd in Military Knowledge and 2nd overall. A lovely end to the camp.