For the last few years I have helped out with the provision of Bronze DofE expedition training and assessments. Due to the numbers of participants involved, a number of instructors are needed to supervise and assess the various groups over the course of 6 days. Over recent years, a core team has developed, making it [...]

A fortnight ago, I was working with pupils from Oswestry School on their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition training. This weekend it was their opportunity to put everything into practice by completing a 2 day expedition with significantly less input from the instructors. It was also their first time carrying expedition rucksacks on their [...]

I spent this weekend working for Shrewsbury School on a Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition training weekend. As it turned out, I wasn’t working with any of the boys from Shrewsbury School, but with 6 lads from Shrewsbury House. I’d never heard of The Shewsy, as it’s known, before but it has a long running [...]

At the beginning of April, I was working for Oswestry School on their Gold Duke of Edinburgh training package. This weekend was the turn of the Bronze candidates, many of whom had had little or no previous experience of camping and navigation before. We based ourselves at Carrog Station Campsite, about 10 minutes drive from [...]

At the end of March, I spent a weekend working with some 6th Form pupils from Oswestry School who were starting their training towards their Gold DofE expedition. On that occasion, there were some preparing to do their expedition by canoe, others by sea kayak and others on foot and the training covered was generic [...]

Duke of Edinburgh expeditions tend to make up quite a bit of my working diary from April through to June, but it was nice to start the ball rolling a little earlier this year. I’m due to spend 5 days with Oswestry School in about a weeks time, working with pupils building up to their [...]

I’ve spent the last few days supervising a Gold Duke of Edinburgh qualifying expedition for a group of pupils from Oswestry School. In fact, it was a group that I trained back at the end of March, so it was great to catch up with them and see them embark on the real thing after [...]

Each year, after their school exams, all of Shrewsbury School’s Year 9 pupils undertake a 6 day program of various activities. 3 days are spent doing activities based out of school, but often going off site. This year included an activities day at Nesscliffe Training Camp, a conservation day with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and [...]

Wow – what a scortcher! Following Oswestry School’s Bronze DofE training weekend a fortnight ago, this weekend was an opportunity for the candidates to put everything together during the course of a 2 day practice expedition. Due to the fact that many of the pupils are due to have a GCSE exam at the start [...]

This weekend was spent working with a group of 6 aspirant Bronze Duke of Edinburgh candidates from Shrewsbury School on an expedition training weekend. In total, there were 8 walking groups from Shrewsbury School, each with their own instructor for the weekend, working out of Brow Farm campsite at Ratlinghope, on the north-western side of [...]