By D Whittock, DofE Manager

The sun beat down, the earth warmed itself in the heat of the day and the DofE explorers rejoiced in all that mother nature has to offer!  That is until the heavens opened and the rain came down. Despite the change in the weather, nothing appeared to dampen the spirits of some of our groups. If you were following us on twitter, you will have seen the super photographs of our students singing their way around their routes and into end points each day. 

Undertaking back to back expeditions is a tough ask for anyone, but with the option to include some special measures our students really did rise to the challenge!

All Yr 13 Gold groups demonstrated some great navigational skills and, as mentioned earlier, their ability to sing their way around their routes. Patrick Moran, our Gold DofE Assessor, again complimented our students on every aspect of their expedition and their behaviour and attitude throughout their time away.

Our Yr11 Silver groups, who had to put up with me (Mrs Whittock) assessing them, demonstrated really excellent navigation and teamwork. They kept time throughout both their practice and assessed expeditions and morale was very high. When I asked the groups what they thought of their time together on expedition, group 2 said “We really feel like we have a really good friendship group now!” Group 1 said “We were all friends anyway but now we feel like we know each other much better”.

In truth, the freedom to walk in a wonderful part of the country, enjoying all that nature has to offer, was just invigorating for everyone. The New Forest ponies with this years foals were a particular favourite for everyone, especially Mrs Woodhouse!

All six groups were successful in completing their expeditions and will see their Assessor reports arrive on the eDofE accounts very soon.

Congratulations to all students who took part and many thanks to the staff who supported them.

Felsted D of E