The Year 9’s braved the elements this month and embarked on their first Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition. This is always a massive learning curve for the students. Having to navigate Ordnance Survey maps and putting their classroom Geography to the test; to working as a team to put up tents and cook a communal dinner.  

After 20 years of being a Duke of Edinburgh Manager, I often think I have ‘seen it all’; but then I am continuously surprised by the interesting items students bring on expeditions. These can range from the very daft to the very resourceful! This year the level of thought I saw in the preparation of dinner menus was really impressive; not to mention the finale dessert options courtesy of Haribo!  

I can also bet that the students had the best night’s sleep after seeing many self-inflating mattresses! I know some students had some quite long walks and the camp conditions were rather muddy after recent periods of rainfall, but there were a lot of smiles and positive comments from the assessors as the girls made it to camp and proved their independent survival skills. I wish them the best of luck for their qualifying expedition that is coming up in mid-June.  

Written by Mrs Stevens, Head of Geography, Educational Visits Co-ordinator and DofE Manager