Duke of Edinburgh's Award Expeditions
The last two weeks have seen back to back qualifying expeditions for both Gold and Silver Duke of Edinburgh's Awards. Two Gold groups planned routes across the Peak District National Park which allowed them to investigate the aviation history and what is now Manchester Airport. Trekking over the infamous Saddleworth Moor they explored a crash site of two post war fighter jets before camping below the Crowden Reservoir in an area infamous for its unexplained night time lights and apparitions.
Moving across the Dark Peak of Kinder Scout the next day they stopped to investigate the wreckage of an US WW2 bomber. The following day they moved east to west across the entirety of Kinder Scout, conducting a well organised search to discover the final wreck site of a crashed RAF bomber. On their final day they visited the area around the Ladybower Reservoir which was the training ground for the RAF bomber crews who undertook the Dambusters raid of 1943.
All groups successfully completed their four day expedition and moved onto the next stages of their award. The Silver groups arrived and after a day of preparation in country, the first half of the 103 students engaged in the Award set off on their routes in and around the Edale horseshoe, venturing onto the edge of Kinder Scout and engaging on their aims which varied form litter collection to surveying the facilities of their campsites.
Some groups found the routes and navigation challenging at times and came close to not meeting the required threshold to complete the expedition section, but they rallied their efforts and worked as teams to improve themselves over the course of the three days in the field. Changing over with the next group of expeditions midweek, the second expedition followed a similar pattern and whilst some found it difficult to meet the physical challenges of the expedition, they were complemented on their positive attitude and behaviour when remotely supervised by members of the public on the campsites.
All that remains now is for all groups to conduct the presentation of their aim when we return to School in September.
Mr Forbes-Whitehead would like to thank all members of the School staff who gave up their time to supervise and assess the expeditions for the students. Without their generosity of time and spirit the expeditions could not take place.
