Our annual Enrichment Week is a key part of our promise to deliver more than a visible curriculum and challenge all students to achieve more than they first think is possible.
Intrepid new Year 10s spent the week preparing for and embarking on their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award Expedition.
Mr Reed told us:
“Over the past several months, more than 100 new Year 10 students have been taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, which consists of 3 months of volunteering work, 3 months of skill work, and 3 months of physical work. The aim of the program is to teach young adults teamwork and to make them into fit, independent and respectable citizens.
Having completed their training and practise expedition on the Monday and Tuesday of Enrichment Week, where they planned their routes and learnt a good deal about navigation, First Aid and camp craft, they embarked on their final qualifying expedition on the morning of Wednesday 1st July, under the guidance of a team of assessors from No Limits Development and ably supported by an enthusiastic and intrepid, band of staff from CDPS. The students were dropped off at Stratford Park in Stroud to embark upon their expedition, which consisted of 14 hours of walking over 2 days, between Stroud and Cranham Woods Scout Camp, concluding back in Stroud, on the afternoon of Thursday 2nd July.
The students were an absolute credit to themselves, their families and the school, and all should be extremely proud of having completed the expedition successfully! Not least because the temperatures across all 4 days of training and Expedition were challenging in the extreme!
It’s vitally important that all participants conclude their endeavours in relation to the Volunteering, Physical and Skill sections, and that they upload all evidence to their eDofE accounts in a timely fashion.
Personally I was hugely impressed by the students’ commitment, resilience and resolve, in undertaking and completing the challenge posed, not to mention the kindness and support shown towards each other! As staff, we were able to share their sense of pride in their accomplishment, when they arrived back at Stratford Park on the Thursday afternoon, having drawn upon the guidance and support they were given. I was also extremely grateful to those who coordinated the movement of students across the 2 days of the expedition; it was a huge challenge for all those concerned; a challenge which was met head-on!”
