DofE Silver Award

 

This October, fourteen Year 13's will be completing our final presentation for our Silver Duke of Edinburgh award. DofE is an award that will challenge you mentally and physically, as you have to complete 3 sections consisting of: volunteering, learning a new skill and partaking in a physical activity for an hour each week. It is an opportunity to grow as a person and improve your physical and mental health.

To be completely honest, it was one of the best things I could’ve done- I’m not normally someone who likes nature, but it was more like going on a picnic with my friends and really heavy bags. Not only that, but I really felt as if I made a difference by volunteering and helping out younger kids and bettering myself by learning a new skill. As for the expedition part of the award, we had to be self-sufficient for 3 days and carry all of our things on 8-hour hikes. Waking up and making coffee and instant porridge was one of the better parts of the day, but also creating inside jokes and singing with my friends as we walked through an empty forest was always a highlight of the day.

However, the best part by far had to be comparing dinners in the evening with everyone, especially Mr. Sim who would always come and look at what we were “cooking”, but also meeting new people who I definitely wouldn’t have approached otherwise and that I’m really close with now because of DofE. The expedition would not have been the same without the teachers who came with us; from Mrs. Dark who kept us hydrated even if we didn’t want to be, Mrs Benedict, who brought her dog and kept morale high, Miss Sharpe who made sure the vibes were kept high, and Mr. Sim who always had the best advice.

Elias Hussan, Deputy Head Boy

Note from Miss Sharpe: It was a pleasure to have helped another cohort of students complete one of the hardest mental, physical and emotional challenges to complete their Silver award – a huge well done to all of you, especially our Senior Prize recipient Taufiq Ali for showing tremendous skill and exemplary attitude across the year. This year we’re supporting another 40–45 pupils completing their awards, and we look forward to more weekends in May and June!

 

DofE Bronze Award

A write up from John Mcdonald '11Di' about his experience during the bronze DofE award.

"During my Duke of Edinburgh bronze award expedition, my friends and I had an unforgettable experience as we had to endure difficult conditions. This expedition took us though difficult landscapes and we had on some occasions gotten lost; however, we had always found our way back. Although the heavy backpacks made our journey difficult, however we made it through and saw some amazing places within the forest. 

We found ourselves completely lost several times however due to the good map skills of some people in my group we had managed to find our way back on track. Each of us in the group had contributed in different ways where I built up my teamwork, resilience and self-confidence skills during the expedition"