Brentwood School - Brentwoodian 2020

94 Navy The Navy at Brentwood School has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences that I have had the privilege to take part in. The weekly training we receive is engaging, interesting and often we learn about the exciting things the Royal Navy take part in over the globe. We challenge ourselves to learn that oh so tricky phonetic alphabet! On some of the Field Days things get really interesting - we go sailing, canoeing and raft building in Fairlop Waters; scuba dive in the pool, shoot paintballs in the woods and take part in the ‘Gun Run’ at school. This activity involves disassembling and reassembling a cannon against the clock, with the most panicked and frantic of movements possible and I absolutely loved every moment of working as a team in these circumstances which is what the Navy Section is really all about! We paid our respects with a virtual Remembrance Day and built shelters in the woods for remote Field Day. I have loved every minute of my Navy experience at school - making many great memories and friends with not just my own year but older students too. I also cannot understate the influence our Navy leaders including Mr and Mrs Clark, Mr McCann and many more have had on us. It has been an extremely valuable time in my Brentwood school experience and I am so glad I chose it. By Christian Lille - Fifth Year Thankfully the Brentwood School CCF field days were not derailed by the Covid-19 lockdown. Utilising the technologies and resources that support ‘at home’ learning, the cadets had the opportunity to discover how to survive, escape and evade by covering various important topics such as building a shelter to camouflage, nutrition, treating injuries and protection from the elements. These could be put into practice at home or outside with any available resources and willing family volunteers. We also had the opportunity to discuss our experiences via a Zoom meeting with a serving Royal Marine currently in training which greatly enhanced our understanding of the importance of each aspect of our own training and how it really relates to the actual lives of those in the Navy today. Adapting the Field Days to the current restrictions was an additional challenge for the cadets and NCO’s but with great enthusiasm we were all, as a unit, able to continue our development with a great degree of enjoyment. By Amie Aston - Lower Sixth Last October we had our first set of Navy CCF Field Days as a Fourth Form. Over the two days we completed a range of different activities in our watches, learning some key Navy skills, whilst taking part in some engaging activities that gave us a real feel to what we could look forward to in the future. On the morning of the first day my group took part in Mr Clark’s paintball drill. Armed with paintball guns we had to move through a Forest range, clearing the area from enemy targets, whilst testing our marksman skills! This activity allowed us to experience an alternative side of the Navy and test who had the better aim; it was such a great experience. Then we moved into our gun run activity, where we reenacted a Navy tradition that occurs today as an actual competition for those in the Royal Navy. We had to disassemble and reassemble a model gun and then run this from end-to-end of the Astro. We were timed and had to compete against other groups. This was one of many experiences of great team bonding and allowed us to develop our teamwork skills whilst understanding how the armed forces move equipment around the battleground. Finally we were able to go scuba diving in the pool. This gave us an opportunity to experience diving and all of its dynamics and is one of many pros for being in the Royal Navy Section of the CCF. We completed lots of drills that helped us become more comfortable under water that led to us enjoying diving a lot more, developing a real feel for what is in store in future. Myself and my watch are looking forward to our next scuba diving session with Mr McCann! This Field Day was very enjoyable and I am looking forward to future occasions when we get back to normal next year! By James Jupp & Rory Hopkins - Fifth Year