It’s been an extremely busy time for Year 9 and 10 students, who have been working towards the Expedition section of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award over the past couple of weeks.
After a long break, due by the coronavirus pandemic, the popular activity finally made a comeback with a jam-packed agenda of essential training and exciting expeditions.
To get ready, full training was given on the Countryside Code, map reading and navigation, compass work, first aid and emergency procedures, as well as meal preparation and cooking.
Then, with routes planned and equipment packed, the students set off on their expeditions to the Long Mynd, and were greeted with a mixture of weather, ranging from bright sunshine to thick mist.
In groups of four to six, the students navigated themselves around their routes via a series of checkpoints, where they were met by the staff or left a marker card to show they had been there.
It was reported that some of the Year 9 groups got lost at times, but thankfully they were able to get back on track with a little help from the staff. All of the ardent adventurers successfully completed the 20-mile route over two days and cooked their evening meal using camping stoves at the end of the first day.
A big thank you to Mr Clayton, the school’s DofE manager, Mrs Poole and Mr Nicholls, who all gave up their time to supervise the expeditions.
Highlights from this year’s expeditions
