28 June 2019
Last weekend, 50 Year 9 girls travelled by minibus into the North Downs to start our assessed expedition for our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. First, we had to plan our route and check that we had the right supplies for our trip; once this was done, we set off in groups of six or seven on a six-hour walk to the campsite. It was a tiring but enjoyable journey as we took in the beautiful scenery with our friends, eating lunch in picturesque settings and appreciating seeing many animals along the way, including cows, horses, dogs and chickens. We were somewhat out of our comfort zones, but in the end we reached the campsite, set up our tents and cooked our dinner using a camping trangia (stove). It was fun exchanging tales of our our journeys with the other groups and playing games in our tents, which we shared in twos or threes.
After a rather chilly night, we got up early the next morning, made our breakfast, then set out for another six-hour walk. After walking across many fields, and getting lost a few times, we eventually made it back to Marden Park. At this point, we realised how thankful we were to finally be back in familiar surroundings and pushed through the last fifteen minutes of our walk to make it back to school, where we were met by our group leaders and parents.
Thank you to Mrs Payne and all of the Duke of Edinburgh team for supporting us through our bronze experience.
Grace and Tona, Year 9
