This has been my sixth consecutive weekend on DofE expedition work – this time with Shrewsbury School. A fair amount of the time was spent recapping things that have already been covered, and checking skills and knowledge in preparation for their assessed expedition in June. On Saturday night, my group had the task of erecting tents and cooking dinner in the dark after a late arrival at their campsite. Not easy for anyone, but an extra challenge for those with limited experience of doing these things in daylight.

With everything cleaned up and packed away on Sunday morning, we headed into the Hope Bowdler area of the Shropshire Hills for some navigation revision. They seemed fairly switched on so, after a couple of hours, I sent them off on a 3km loop on their own. It didn’t go perfectly for them, with a few missed turns and doubling back, but they managed to sort themselves out. This is itself was a great learning experience, illustrating the importance of keeping track of their progress on the map and showing that they can do it after all.

As usual, there was a mix of abilities and interests, but the group worked well together and I’m sure they’ll have a great expedition next month.