Duke of Edinburgh Award students are set for their expedition

Fifty of our Year 10 students have recently successfully completed their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh residential training weekend at Marrick Priory. The award itself comprises four sections – Volunteering, Physical, Skills and the Expedition.

The students covered a range of skills they will need for their practice and qualifying expeditions in the summer, including map reading and navigation, camp craft (putting up tents, packing rucksacks, cooking safely on trangia stoves), team building exercises, planning and recording route cards as well as basic first aid techniques.

Students spent a full day out in Swaledale putting the theory of navigation into practice in their own expedition groups. Practice expeditions with full kit and camping outdoors are scheduled for May and then each group will be assessed on a two-day qualifying expedition in June to complete this section of the award.

We also have a group of seven Year 12 students embarking on the prestigious Gold Duke of Edinburgh award. The expedition for this challenging award is extended to four days walking and three nights camping. Their final assessment will take place in the Lake District.

Both groups worked well across their training weekends coping admirably with some challenging weather conditions at times, and impressing their instructors from Marrick with their positive attitudes.