On Saturday 25 February, 40 Bronze level and 7 Silver level DOfE students, gave up their day to come into school for their expedition training, which was delivered by the team from H5 Adventure.

First, they plotted the routes they would be walking on their qualifying expedition (the practice expedition is pre-planned for them). There was a couple of hours of head scratching and “wow that’s a long way” comments.  They worked in teams to master the maps and route cards, and work out what was a footpath and what was a parish boundary or electricity pylon on the maps.

Campcraft came next, this included pitching tents (luckily the rain stopped), cooking on the camping stoves (trangias), and learning what we expect of them when at a campsite. No-one put a hole in their tents with a wayward tent pole or tent peg and they soon understood the safety measures for cooking.

This was followed by a session on what food to bring.  Hopefully the groups will plan which ingredients they are bringing and will not forget the pasta, as one group did last year! They will all need to cook and be seen eating a substantial meal, as part of the 20 conditions set out by DofE to pass the expedition. No Pot Noodles – that’s cheating! and they don't have enough nutritional value to support two days walking (three days in the case of the Silver group)!

First Aid was covered as well as the Countryside Code. Finally, they also checked out the size of the rucksacks, what kit they need to bring, and they were taught the best way to pack the rucksack to get the balance correct.

I look forward to the expeditions starting next month.

Mrs William, D of E Leader