Riverside Highlights Issue 17 Half Term Highlights Term 3b 2016-17 | Page 21

INTERNATIONAL AWARD HIGHLIGHTS
SHREWSBURY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
GIRLS DIG DEEP FOR IA GOLD
The final assembly of the year saw two members of
Shrewsbury’s Graduating class of ’17 being given an
extra special send off as they were presented their
Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award cer-
tificates.
Pasinee (Muk) Posirisuk (pictured right) and Sirada
(Bambi) Techakitpaisarn (pictured left) are both
bound for London in September; Muk to read Design
Engineering at Imperial College, and Bambi to read
Chemical Engineering at UCL.
As an Independent Award Centre, the DOEIA pro-
gramme is extremely popular at Shrewsbury, with all
Year 10 students participating in the Bronze Award, and many progressing to Silver and then the ultimate
level; the Gold Award in the Sixth Form.
Completing the programme’s top award, however, requires particularly significant, ongoing commitment
throughout Years 12 and 13; a time when academic studies are naturally a priority.
As Bambi and Muk explain, “The Award is divided into several elements. Physical Recreation, Service, Skills,
two Adventurous Journeys, and unique to the Gold level, a five day Residential Project”.
For her Residential Project, Bambi taught English to young children at a community initiative project in
Samut Prakan, where she was the youngest volunteer on the staff. Meanwhile Muk travelled all the way to
England to take part in a cultural exchange seminar camp alongside twelve other participants from around
the world. “A key aspect of the residential element is that you do this alone. You should not know anyone
there. It’s a real test of your social skills and your ability to adapt”, said Muk.
In Bambi’s view, time management is the key to successful completion of The Award. Making pragmatic
choices in terms of activities you pursue is important, and students have to enjoy what they’re doing to
sustain the commitment, but it is equally important to simply keep on top of recording the activities using
the Online Record Book; an area where many DoEIA participants fall behind. For both girls, that meant
completing and logging activities for each section (Skills, Physical Recreation & Service) every week for a
continuous period of twelve months.
Like many DOEIA participants, the Adventurous Journey element proved the highlight of the Gold Pro-
gramme for both Muk and Bambi. “We did the Bronze and Silver Award journeys here in Thailand”, ex-
plained Muk, “so I was really excited about doing an adventurous journey (expedition) overseas. It was
probably the main reason I wanted to do the Gold Award. It is just one way that the programme gets
harder but more exciting as you move up the levels. But even at the lower levels, you are exploring the
countryside in a way that most of us would not be able to do otherwise. It is good to be away from home
comforts sometimes, and you get to learn new skills like kayaking, which is brilliant”.
“We went to Volcanoes National Park (Big Island, Hawaii, USA) for our final expedition, which was abso-
lutely amazing”, continued Bambi. “It was a really tough trek, with tough terrain and lots of steep climbs.
The scenery was incredible! We had to carry a lot of heavy equipment too, as well as our own water. You
have to constantly assess the situation, to be considerate of your whole group and to adapt to how they’re
doing as well as the conditions. There will always be low points on expeditions, but for me, they are proba-
bly the most memorable experiences of my whole time at school”.
Unsurprisingly then, Muk and Bambi, are only too keen to recommend the DoEIA programme to others.
“It’s an opportunity to get out the classroom, and to get to know people in a completely different environ-
ment. Completing The Award and gaining the certificate is a bonus, but the main thing I have got from do-
ing The Award is the friendships I have been able to make whilst sharing these experiences with others”.
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