23 May 2024
Year 9s working towards their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award learnt a lot on their practice expedition last weekend, as Mattie explains.
Mattie G, Year 9
As well as lots of fun, the weekend was very informative and helped us understand what we needed to improve for our actual assessed expedition at the end of June.
When we first arrived, with our heavy backpacks, you could tell everyone was nervous, but after a quick briefing from our instructors (and after removing some non-essential items from our bags) we were all soon excited for what lay ahead.
On the first day we walked about 5km around the school grounds, mainly figuring out everyone's strengths, learning to work as a team, and discovering new skills – all the time helped and looked after by the instructors. This long day was followed by some cooking, over a gas stove, and a cold but cosy evening camping on the field where we have school fireworks.
The next day we woke up at 6am and packed our bags, including with the things we had left out on the first day. We had much more freedom as our instructors decided we were all safe to walk in our groups with less supervision. We walked around 12km, some of it on the North Downs Way. Most groups got lost at least once. We crossed some hot fields without any shade, and had to walk up steep hills, but everyone could agree it was worth it. The best feeling was when we arrived at the finish line, proud and tired.
I am excited for our next expedition as this one was definitely a success!
