Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition
Milla from Year 9 was one of the students who took part in the DofE Award this year.
I decided to do the DofE award because I feel like now is my chance to really learn what it’s like exploring and experiencing new things. I have learnt how to put up a tent and how to properly pack my bag. I did cooking for the skills part of the Award, litter picking for volunteering and ice hockey for the physical part.
Before we went on the expedition we had a practice day to prepare us for the weekend. I was super excited to successfully put up a tent without an adult however I was worried about having back pains from carrying the bag around. Miss Whittaker kindly taught us how to read a map and how to use a compass successfully, we learnt how to cook using a trangia and how to pack it up.
If anyone was thinking about doing the DofE Award, I would say definitely go for it – you will learn new things and build friendships with those you never thought you would have.
Our Duke of Edinburgh expedition was another massive success, with 30 pupils completing the final part of their Bronze Award.
Working in the groups to traverse the countryside, putting all the skills they had learned over this past academic year in practice, they finally reached the end point after 2 days of walking and camping. With a total of 35km or more being walked by each pupil there were some pretty tired legs come Saturday afternoon but the sense of achievement they all felt certainly took their mind off this. For a bit at least!
A huge congratulations to all the year 9 and 10 pupils who completed the expedition and a massive thank you to all the staff who have helped throughout the year.
Mr Stevens
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