The weekend (17-19 May) saw the Year 10 Silver DofE students embarking on their practice expedition. To describe the weather they experienced, simply invert the Bronze practice expedition!
All five expedition groups were blessed with superb May weather, and this undoubtedly provided the much needed energy to get all the way to the end. While most of the students progressed from Bronze DofE (and possessed some previous knowledge), we also have some students who are brand new to the Silver DofE.
What was perhaps unnerving for them was the isolation from the public, elimination of technology and thus social media. Being self-sufficient for the weekend was the name of the game. All expedition groups demonstrated excellent campcraft and cooking skills at the campsite and they bonded with other schools over football matches. They were equally tidy throughout and kept noise to a minimum after bedtime. In a bid to encourage students to finish early and hence have more time to rest on Sunday evening, all expedition groups started walking by 7:30am.
For Silver DofE, students must take part in activities for at least seven hours per day (at least half of which must be journeying). Similar to Saturday, the weather was warm and sunny (truly the complete opposite to the Bronze practice expedition weekend), with the final group arriving at Meopham Green by 3:30pm. Some groups recognise that their navigation skills need improvement, especially as navigation within Ashdown Forest is a lot more complex (e.g. plenty more woodlands to navigate through). They are encouraged to spend their summer holiday using an Ordnance Survey map and go on some practice walks.
Once again, I thank Miss Couves, Mr Humphrey, Mrs McLean and Mr.Parrott for giving up their weekend supervising the expedition groups and providing so much useful advice. KKP