Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh Silver Practice Expedition
On Thursday 12th May, we took 14 Year 10 students to Swansea for their Silver DofE practice expedition. It was fantastic to see the students take part in this experience, particularly as they hadn’t previously had a chance due to COVID-19 restrictions last year.
T
hey set up camp on Thursday evening and cooked their meals on Trangias. Participants then spent Friday and Saturday following their routes (or not following them as the case may be…!). The weather was great, and all students successfully made it back to camp before packing up and setting off early on Sunday morning. Mr Hellier, Ms Obmann and Miss Johnson really enjoyed the weekend and hopefully everyone is all set for the final expedition in the Peak District this week! See below some trip updates from two or our Year 10 students.
Day 2 update
Day 2 update
After a five-hour car journey to the middle of nowhere in South Wales, pitching a tent, cooking pasta Bolognese, and playing manhunt with head torches, I woke up to a cacophony of bird songs. Today, we walked 16km in our fellowship of Chris, George, Will, Robin, and Bailey. It was a challenging day for sure - especially the final leg to the final checkpoint!
However, the highlight of the day came very early on in the route where we had a brief encounter with some energetic cows. The only way was through, so we snuck through the gate while the cows didn’t expect it! It was a tiring day but great fun and now my legs and back ache and we’re doing it all again tomorrow…!
Ellis, Year 10
Expedition Update
We were dropped off at the starting point at around 9am. For us, it was an interesting trip - until the first checkpoint where we saw cows, sheep, bulls (maybe) – any farm animal, you name it! When we got to town, things went a bit south because we got lost trying to find the checkpoint! We spoke to a very kind woman who told us the right directions, but because we all had the memory of a fish – we forgot! My group was now me, Megan, Livi – the dying trio – and Emma, Annice and Phoebe – the ‘I could do this any day’ trio.
We could see the other group and we were so happy knowing we were in front. We walked a bit more and we got lost…again – not like a normal lost but a ‘all the way up the steepest hill ever for no extra reason’ lost! Although in pain, every time we got to the top of a hill, it was quite gratifying with the beautiful views and scenery. When we got back to the camp, we watched the last bit of the football – and Liverpool won! Ellis and Will looked exactly like Mr Hellier! It really felt like we had created a little village there. I think everyone had fun.
Ines, Year 10