Year 10s Enjoy An Excellent Expedition To Earn DofE Awards
Towards the end of term, a group of our staff supported Year 10 students who have been completing their Duke of Edinburgh Silver and Bronze awards this year.
The awards were achieved through a five-day expedition that started at Bredbury Hall and ended at Errwood & Fernilee Reservoir in Whaley Bridge. Students were responsible for not only planning the route, but also navigating terrain as a team and setting up camp each night until they reached their destination.
Year 10 student and newly-appointed Head of the Prefectural Board Ewan Harkness wrote this report about his experience:
This term, some Year 10 students, including myself, finished their DofE Bronze and Silver awards by completing an expedition.
The expeditions were 10km treks going through hills, under bridges and next to rivers. Navigation was completed by the student team, and members of staff were positioned at check points along the way, so if you got lost you had to figure it out yourself.
However, before the expedition even began, months of time and effort had to be put in by the participants. This was because in order to receive the award, you have to complete three sections: skill, physical and volunteering. For two of those activities, three months of tasks and prep had to be completed for each and then six months for the final activity.
Everyone who completed the awards have learned new skills, become physically fitter and, volunteered for a charity. We all say that we will continue with these hobbies after the award has been completed.
After completing the DofE Bronze and Silver awards, we reflected on the journey to this point, which was made more difficult by the impact of lockdown and Covid-19, and we all felt great pride at what we achieved.
I would urge everyone to take part in DofE as it is incredibly rewarding, fun and everyone who took part enjoyed it greatly.