This term the students in Year 6 have researched and explored the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton and made strong links between the challenges he overcame on the Endurance in Antarctica and our own experiences as school leaders. We have come to appreciate the importance of service in leadership. When Shackleton’s men were faced with their darkest hour their leader danced for them to entertain and lift their mood. We have appreciated the importance of perseverance, absorption and most importantly, collaboration. We have worked together to replicate the 1400km journey of the James Caird by rowing in five minute intervals on a rowing machine in the Wyvern Hall. We have had to work together tirelessly towards achieving a common goal.

The Journey of the James Caird

by Sachin Spencer 6R
Sir Ernest Shackleton was an Irish born explorer who went on three great expeditions to Antarctica. His family’s motto was “through Endurance we conquer”. On his third expedition Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men set off to attempt to be the first to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. His ship, the Endurance, left London on the 1st of August 1914, the same day Germany declared war on Russia. The Endurance arrived at South Georgia whaling station and took on supplies of food and fresh water. When the Endurance departed South Georgia it was the last time the men would touch land for an astonishing 497 days. 

In January 1915, the Endurance became trapped in between two massive ice flows. The crew stayed aboard for as long as they could but eventually it became too dangerous and Shackleton gave the order to abandon ship. The ice floes started to break up and Shackleton came up with a clever plan. The men launched the lifeboats and rowed to Elephant Island. the men were satisfied on Elephant Island but Shackleton was not. He wanted to get the crew back to civilisation without a single casualty, he hand picked five men and they launched a 22 ft lifeboat called the James Caird. On this tiny lifeboat six men who were frozen, thirsty and hungry rowed 1400 kilometres across the most treacherous waters in the world to reach South Georgia Island. Their troubles were not over yet. The six exhausted men were on the wrong side of South Georgia so Shackleton picked two men and they accompanied him on a 36 mile trek across frozen mountains and glaciers. Unbelievably, they made it and sent boats to pick up of of the men.

Sir Ernest Shackleton had not achieved his goal of crossing Antarctica via the South Pole but in my opinion he did something much more incredible. Every single man was alive at the end of a 4 year period without civilisation. Here at Wyvern House, Year 6 are trying to replicate the journey on a rowing machine. We have so far rowed around 300 kilometres so we are 1100 kilometres off our goal with 2 weeks to go. I feel that the men had it a lot harder than us as they had 2 years without nutritional food and clean water, They had to row 24/7 and were up against hurricane force winds and rain. I have put in my best effort and have rowed around 14/15 kilometres. When people told me that we would have to row 1400 kilometres I though that we would do it in a week but after getting on the rowing machine and pulling and pushing as hard as possible I have truly realised the situation or mortal peril that the crew of the Endurance were in. I have used a lot of BLP muscles through this task. Perseverance: When you feel like stopping on the machine you have to push yourself to the max to keep going. Noticing: I flexed my noticing muscles when I had to set up the rowing machine. Managing Distractions: I used my managing distractions muscles when people were talking to me and I had to just focus on just rowing as hard as I could. I feel that this challenge is a great goal for Year 6 to achieve and I wish that the whole school were involved because it has made learning highly enjoyable. 

Captions from L to R – Boys looking at the Endurance, Boys standing in front of the replica of the James Caird and the James Caird journey.