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Silver Duke of Edinburgh - Practice Expedition
Ayla in 10S sent this report:
On Thursday 20 - Saturday 22 April, 42 Year 10 students participated in their Silver DofE practice expedition.
Located in the Ashdown Forest, in teams we familiarised ourselves with the routes we’d be walking on the first day. This allowed us to develop our navigation skills and understand certain elements of map reading we were unsure about. We completed this at the campsite, which gave all of us a chance to get to know the layout of woodlands we’d be calling home for the next couple of nights.
After the initial briefing and reviewing of our maps, we were assigned a leader to help us undergo the routes and to help us improve our navigation. After a short journey in the minibuses to the first drop off point, we spilt into our seven teams and individually had a go at setting the map (making sure that Fred was in the shed) and then we ventured off into the woodlands.
Despite the many hills the Ashdown Forest threw at us, along with the temperamental weather forecast, we managed to complete a distance of 18k on the first day, 6k of this being along an abandoned railway line (this felt like it went on forever!). When arriving back at the campsite, it was a race against time to put up the tents before the rain settled in for the evening. This didn’t stop our spirits though as although we were wet and exhausted, we all managed to stay very upbeat and eager to cook our prepared meals of pasta on the trangias. And I just wanted to say, on behalf of all of us that went on the expedition a massive thank you to Mr Law, Miss Abbott, Mr Shingleton and Miss Worsfold for all time and planning, along with the help with navigation, dropping us off in locations in the minibuses and for making the weekend enjoyable, despite the questionable weather.
Day Two - Abbey in 10T, Tegan in 10T and Libby in 10A sent this report:
The second day started with tea and porridge - followed by a load of washing up! We set out on our mini bus to our starting location. After several hours of walking in the rain, it started to brighten up, brightening our moods until… we were separated from the main group leaving us to navigate ourselves to a meet up point on the map, which we later found out didn’t exist! During our lone journey we travelled an extra 3k, 1k of which was 20cm deep mud. Despite the struggle the sun kept shining and we kept our moods as high as possible. Finally we saw Miss Abbott from a distance - our saviour - and all cheered. We finished our day with soup, rice and s’mores around Mr Shingleton’s amazing campfire. Finally, a massive thank you to Mr Law, for organising everything and keeping our spirits high with his jokes. Miss Abbott, for being our saviour and keeping everyone happy. Miss Worsfold for driving our bags and us everywhere, and Mr Shingleton, and his amazing fire making skills.
We also received a report from Team ‘We’re Lost,’ (or as Mr Law would prefer due to his encouraging optimism) - ‘We know where we are’. We know them best as Fiona, Lucy, Mara, Lola, Iris and Mèzi (10A):
After a cold, sleepless night with Iris sleep-talking, and some of us snoring, we got up and after dragging ourselves out of bed, were welcomed with April showers. While getting ready we had the privilege of spotting deer after our zookeeper (Lucy) discovered them in the distance. After our slightly late start at noon we eventually reached our start point (thanks to Mèzi and Fiona navigating the way at the front of the minibus). Fiona’s investment in her navigational skills meant she was oblivious to the fact that her hands were blue - special thanks to Mr Law for lending half of his equipment to her (gloves, hat and hand warmers). Fiona’s life was now restored and we could set off on our hike. It was exceedingly muddy and Lucy fell over and bruised her knee in the ankle-deep mud. Rather fittingly, our What-3-Words to locate the minibus was ‘Amused-Slower-Limp’ which lifted our moods along with the breath-taking views we had the privilege to see (thanks to Mr Law’s enthusiasm). We reached the reservoir, only slightly disheartened - but then the sun began to set and this rewarded us with an experience of a lifetime and a real sense of achievement after having walked 19km the day before, and 12km that current day. Thank you to all the teachers/assessors making this expedition possible - Miss Abbott for her pep talks and constant motivation (and the fish and chips + letting us use the walkie-talkie), Miss Worsfold for allowing us to have a minibus sing-a-long, Mr Shingleton for his amazing campfire, Mr Law for lifting our moods along the way and buying us a chocolate bar as well as Simon for helping out too!
