Students complete Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award

News - Jul 4

The past few weeks have been very busy for Mr Turner, our Head of Outdoor Education, as he has guided students in the completion of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. He provides the details here:  

Students from Year 9 and 10 were able to complete their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition within the beautiful landscapes surrounding the school. We already have exceptionally high uptake for DofE here at Colyton Grammar School, but, with two year groups needing to complete their expedition section, just under 240 students took to the trails within this timeframe and all successfully completed the challenge.  

There were two route options on offer to ensure that all students were suitably challenged; the ‘Challenge’ route covered 24km and the ‘Challenge Plus’ which extended to 35km. In teams of between 4 and 7, the students had to independently navigate their way through lanes, footpaths, woodland and the coast path in order to complete a circular route that started and ended at school. They also had to carry all of the necessary equipment for a two day expedition, including all of their camping and cooking kit.  

The weather was generally kind and, for the most part, dry, although it was often very hot. There was one expedition that was an exception to that rule however, where the teams were faced with torrential rain from the moment that they set out from camp on the second day. On the morning of that second, I spoke to our assessor and we agreed that, due to the extreme weather conditions, the teams should be given the option to finish this particular expedition early. I jogged up to Beer Head in nearly horizontal rain and strong winds expecting each team to accept defeat and the offer a minibus ride back to school. On the contrary, as I talked to each team, I passed their determination to complete the whole challenge unaided was quite remarkable and not a single team member accepted the easy option.  

I was really impressed with how all of our teams got on and I was delighted to receive such positive comments from passers by and those we shared the campsite with about how polite, courteous and friendly our students are. Many thanks to all the parents who got the children out of the door on the mornings of their expedition fully prepared with everything they would need for a wonderful adventure, and thanks for the lovely comments that I have received since. I would like to pass on a massive thank you to Tony Willimas, our assessor for all of the expeditions and all of the other fantastic volunteer leaders, both teachers and outside volunteers who gave up their time and expertise to make all of this possible.  

Next up, we have our Year 11 students due to complete their silver awards on Dartmoor and Year 12 students completing their gold by heading up to North Wales for a massive adventure in the mountains.