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Natasha completes her Professional Windsurf Instructor Development course
I can't quite believe that I have just completed my final week of the Flying Fish course. My last week has been awesome.
I have been assisting Nancy, Max & Jamie with the Kids' Club all week at Club Vass. We have had a group of 15 children aged between six and 12 in the Kids Club, who have all been fantastic fun. Working with kids has been great as I am just a big kid at heart! The Club ran from 10am - 1pm and then 3pm - 6pm each day.
Each morning we would take the children windsurfing and dingy sailing which was good fun. Windsurfing with young children is very demanding as they all need constant support and encouragement to keep them motivated, but it's incredibly rewarding when they finally get going and you see the smiles on their faces! Club Vass has a great selection of children's boards and sails.
In the afternoons if the wind goes cross shore then we can't take the children out windsurfing as the wind is too strong, so we spent the afternoons playing games, doing fun activities and swimming in the pool.
Nancy organised some amazing activities for the children, it was a non-stop week of crazy fun! The children all tried a trial scuba dive in the pool, which some of them enjoyed so much that they started taking further lessons.
We also played some cool pool games like pool quidditch! We had a pirate day, where we all made pirate hats and took the ribs to the secret pirate beach where we had treasure hunts and made shapes with salt dough. On the last day they all went ringo riding. Max & I were lucky enough to have a go with two of the children. I haven't laughed so much in ages. I reckon we were enjoying it more than the kids were!
The children all competed in the Vass Race Day which was great fun. They had a great time and one of the kids from Jamie's group won the first race which was brilliant.
The last afternoon we had a party and prize giving for all the children and played our favourite party games, like musical bumps, statues etc! Each child was given an award like most improved windsurfer or pool quidditch queen. It was a really rewarding week and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the kids.
Time again for the Club Vass BBQ. Max & I dressed up as Ghost Busters much to the kids' amusement as the BBQ theme this week was Heroes & Villains. I also took part in my first entertainment. I was a crocodile in the swamp during the super hero challenge! It was a real laugh and something that I will be doing every week now.
Nate & I had a full de-brief with Barnsey on our last day for our professional development course which was useful and Barnsey helped me with my lesson plan for my first beginner group next week.
I start my job with Club Vass tomorrow and I can't wait! I'm moving from the Fish House tonight to the staff accommodation. It's going to be strange to hang up my Fish rash vest for the last time, although I reckon once a Fish always a Fish! I'm already planning my intermediate windsurfing upgrade with Flying Fish.
The time I have spent with Flying Fish have been awesome; I can't quite describe how much fun I have had and how much I have learnt. Winning this competition has totally changed my life and I'm really grateful to all the fantastic people at Flying Fish for giving me this opportunity. I'm now looking forward to an amazing summer working for Club Vass and the endless summer beyond. Life is awesome.
