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Lancaster Girls' Grammar School
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Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award
On the 12th to the 14th September 2009 my group and I set off on our assessed Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition from Foxfield to Ravenglass. Although it would only last three days the expedition had been a long time in the making.
We had to write our route plans over the summer holidays after completing a practice expedition in June, we also had to attend meetings to improve our map reading and navigational skills. Our expedition was a great success, we had a fantastic time plus the weather was on our side ... unusual for an expedition!
Although there were highs and lows we kept each other going, with songs (“The Sound of Music” provided many tunes!), epic tales by Rosie, which managed to last all of Day 1 and comments such as “We can’t work under all this pressure!” “Why not?” “You’re too intimidating Mr Bristow!”
Duke of Edinburgh is a fantastic experience. I have achieved my Bronze level and also plan to go on to do the Gold level because I have enjoyed it so much. The fact that you have to do a sport, skill and service as part of the award means that I have made new friends whilst keeping fit. I have learnt something that I had never thought possible, to ring church tower bells as a skill choice, and I helped young girls to have greater learning opportunities by helping at Brownies.
I have gained personal skills, such as organisation and team building, because when you are with the same group of people for three days, it is important you get on well together.
I have also learnt really useful skills, such as navigational skills and can now read a map really well, which will be helpful in the future.
I would highly recommend doing the Duke of Edinburgh award. Not only do you make friends and learn new skills, you become fitter and get to see parts of the country you might not normally see. My family and I don’t go camping or for many long walksin the Lake District or Yorkshire Dales, but D of E has provided me with the opportunity to see the spectacular scenery which we live so close to, whilst having a fantastic time!
J. Dawson
