Students complete Ten Tors 2025

News - May 21

We are so proud of all our students who participated in the Ten Tors event, whether that be through the six teams that we entered, or through other establishments.  

When training for the event was launched in October last year, we had over 150 students across Year 10 and 12 express an interest in taking part. Participants then embarked on a five month training programme to prepare them for the event. We were heavily oversubscribed as each establishment is allocated a maximum of two 35 and two 45/55 teams, meaning that we only had places for 24 students. Whilst some tough selection decisions had to be made, we were really pleased to be able to secure a further two teams earlier in the spring, meaning that we had the biggest allocation of any state school and we were able to take through 36 participants.  

In the week running up to the event, we ran a series of kit checks, briefings and route planning meetings to ensure that everyone was fully prepared. On Thursday morning, Mr Smith, Mr Glazebrook, Mr Chuter and Mr Turner travelled to Okehampton camp at the crack of dawn to secure the very best base camp spot for our teams. We then travelled with the students to the camp on Friday morning for registration. Two teams had their kits scrutineered, but we are pleased to say that there were absolutely no issues there.  

There were some nerves on Saturday morning, but the teams were up and raring to go at 5am. We are extremely grateful to the parent helpers who made sure that they were well fed before we walked up to the starting point. The opening ceremony, including VIP speeches and a parachute display by the Red Devils culminated in the sound of a cannon, signaling the start of the event.  

We watched the tracker screens with bated breath as the teams ticked off the checkpoints throughout the Saturday and got off to a good early start on Sunday. The most rewarding part of the whole weekend, by far, was seeing every member of every team make it across that finish line so confidently.  

The teams came in on Sunday in the following order:  

55s, 45a, 35a, 45b and 35b  

Huge congratulations to everyone from Colyton Grammar School who participated in the event, whether that be through our teams or other establishments. We have heard great things about our students who have made positive contributions to teams from other centres, and we are proud of all of you. For example, George and Stan who joined with the Sea Scout Explorers group, powered through and managed with great grit and determination to cross that finish line despite multiple team retirements. A big well done to all of you.  

Finally, we want to add a massive thank you to our amazing team of staff and outside volunteers, who have given so much of their time, care and expertise to provide this opportunity for our students.