We had fantastic weather and the students showed brilliant courage and commitment during their expedition. We were really impressed by their navigation skills and determination to get their walk done! We look forward to welcoming the students back for their Gold in Year 12! Matilda K gives highlights of the expedition below.

Megan Johnson 
DofE & Enrichment Coordinator

Thursday was the first day of our expedition and our travel day. We left school at 9am and reached the Peak District at around 1.30pm. We walked for about four hours and were given a list of places to visit and take photos and then walk back to the campsite which was the end point of our walks each day. We walked about 12 or 13km.

On Friday, we walked all day from about 9am until 5pm and walked about 26km during that time. We walked up and down some hills until the second checkpoint where we met the teachers at a pub. Then we followed a river for about an hour and then had to retrace our steps back to the checkpoint. We saw lots of animals such as sheep, cows, and even some chickens. We finally arrived back to our campsite where we relaxed and cooked dinner. After dinner, we realised there were even some donkeys in the field next to our campsite who were friendly if a bit loud!

Saturday was our last day of walking and our hardest day of all. We walked from 8.30am to 4pm and managed 18km during that time. After we left the campsite, we had to walk through some fields to get to the first hill. In said fields we got blocked by some cows surrounding a gate who chased us through the field. After that we got to the hill where we got lost for about 15 minutes but, thankfully, we were soon back on track. We met the teachers at the first checkpoint and then had to walk back down the hill towards the second checkpoint. 

After the second checkpoint, we started walking towards the hardest part of the entire expedition – Lose Hill. We ascended it to reach the viewpoint at the top, where we also stopped to eat lunch. The view from the top was incredible! We then walked back down and found the other group who were walking up the hill. Once we got to the bottom, we walked for about half an hour until we found the teachers at the checkpoint. Then we walked for about another hour to get back to the campsite where we could finally relax knowing we didn’t have to do anymore walking. We hung out, cooked dinner, showered and all slept very well that night after almost three full days of walking.

Before we went on our expedition, we had to set an aim that we would achieve while on the expedition. Our group’s aim was to find and take pictures of places with outstanding natural beauty in the Peak District. Some of the views we found over the three days certainly met that requirement. Everyone in the group took pictures during the expedition and here are some of our highlights below. The Silver DofE Expedition was great and we all loved the experience.  

Matilda K, Year 10 Student