Flint High School: Expedition qualifies students for their first Duke of Edinburgh Award

It was third time lucky for a group of students who have just returned after a weekend expedition of camping and hiking in the Welsh countryside to achieve their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. 

Twenty eight year 11 Flint High School students, who had previously had two dates for the expedition cancelled due to the King’s Coronation and extreme weather conditions, were eager to get stuck in despite somewhat inclement weather.

In smaller groups of 4 to 7, the students worked together navigating their way on the hikes around the Llangollen area, carrying all their equipment with them. 

Having spent the last 9 months preparing for the weekend expedition, which involved planning the hike, learning and practicing navigation skills, emergency procedures, first aid skills, food safety, and working out the correct amounts of each food group, the students were well equipped to take on their  challenge. 

Some of the students are now looking at going on to prepare for their Silver Award over the next 12 months. 

Phill Dowle, teacher of science and deputy head of year, is the D of E Manager at the school and has successfully encouraged students to participate in the programme over the years.  

He said: “The DofE programme offers so many benefits to young people; it gives them opportunities to make friends, develop new skills, increase their resilience, and encourages them to believe in their abilities as well as providing great experience of working as a team. 

“I am really proud of this group of students for all their hard work leading up to this point. Due to the trip having to be postponed twice, the students have had to repeat some areas of training, but they have done so with smiles on their faces.   

“Over the weekend, they worked well together in their groups and helped each other with cooking and striking the tents. I would like to say a huge ‘well done’ to them all, and I look forward to supporting them to achieve their Silver and Gold awards over the next couple of years”. 

One of the students, Marta Kosek, said: “The DofE experience turned out exactly how we planned; full of life-long memories that I will cherish forever. Without a doubt, it had its difficult times, but as a group we got through it. From this experience, I also gathered a plethora of skills that I can use within my life and on my CV.”

To achieve their DofE awards, students must complete four areas of activity: volunteering (giving up time to help others in the local community), skills (improving a skill or learning a new one), physical (improving fitness levels) and expedition (hiking and camping).