DofE Silver Expedition to the Shropshire Hills

The weekend of 18th to 20th June saw the culmination of 6 months of practice and preparation for the Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition.

Our year 10 students, 17 in total, embarked on 3 days of hiking in the Shropshire hills and moorland, starting in Cardington and finishing in Wall under Heywood via Ratlinghope and Hamperley. In total they walked approximately 50km in weather conditions that ranged from hours of rain to temperatures approaching the high 20’s. Independent navigation throughout the expedition using OS map and compass, coupled with camping and preparing their own food, this was a hugely demanding undertaking. Campcraft was brilliant, navigation was not always 100% (but never is), but stamina and resilience was astonishing for young people of their age. Assessment and final judgement is still on-going with our DofE assessor Ms Browne, but I can honestly say that the students effort and willingness to follow and act upon their training made all the staff accompanying them truly proud.

I would like to thank Ms Browne, Mr O’Sullivan and our tireless overall coordinator Mr Flood for their acceptance of sacrificing yet another weekend for what is a fantastic and valuable experience for students, delivered courtesy of enormous commitment from staff.

Mr Saunderson
DofE Silver Co-ordinator