Duke of Edinburgh Award Posted on: 23 Mar 2016
At the beginning of March, 70 Year 10 pupils successfully completed their practice Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition in Kielder, Northumberland. Pupils navigated their way along woodland tracks, with all of the equipment they required for the two day expedition, with the support of staff from Simonside Outdoor Adventure. They camped overnight in the grounds of Akenshaw Burn cottage, cooking an evening meal and enjoying an open air fire. These pupils attend after school classes and are currently planning their qualifying routes along the Northumberland coastline during which they will be assessed on their ability to walk independently as a group, their navigation, and their camp craft skills. We hope that the weather will be significantly more pleasant in May and June!
Completing the expedition section is one quarter of their overall Award. All of the pupils are currently completing a Skill, a Volunteering and a Physical activity for either 13 or 26 weeks. Once these sections are verified by their assessors, their Bronze Award will be complete. We hope that all sections will be completed before the end of the academic year.
In addition to the Year 10 pupils taking part in the Bronze Award, there are 20 Year 11 pupils completing the Silver Award and 8 Year 12 students completing the Gold Award. The Silver and Gold expeditions will take place in the summer after the GCSE/GCE exams in the Yorkshire Dales, Hadrian’s Wall and the Lake District. We are excited to be able to offer these Awards at the Academy and look forward to seeing more students participating in the future.
Information about getting involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award in the next academic year will be given to Year 9 pupils during the next term, and any current Year 10 or 11 pupils who would like to start the Silver or Gold Award next year should see Mr Sheard in the Maths department.
