Woodrush Star June 2013 | Page 8

DUKE OF EDINBURGH Bronze DofE Practice Expedition Future DofE’ers…. If you would like to get involved with the DofE award we will be enrolling new participants in September. Year 10 – Bronze, Year 11 – Silver, Year 12 – Gold. You will need to complete activities for the following sections over the required time: Volunteering /Physical Skills / Expedition / Residential (Gold only) For further information visit www.dofe.org or see Miss Houston. Look out for the enrolment meetings in September! DofE Achievements: •Well done to Andy who has achieved his Silver DofE by volunteering at a youth club, paying badminton, learning to cook and completing two 3-day expeditions. •Well done to Jess who has achieved her Silver DofE by volunteering with a special needs group, doing pilates, learning to knit and completing two 3-day expeditions. •Well done to Elise who has achieved her Bronze DofE by volunteering with the youth cabinet, dancing, learning the guitar and completing two 2-day expeditions. •Well done to Matt who has achieved his Silver DofE by volunteering at a stables, horse riding, learning the saxaphone and completing two 3-day expeditions. •Well done to Kim who has achieved her Bronze DofE by volunteering with a youth group, dancing, developing her drama skills and completing two 2-day expeditions. •Well done to Lydia who has achieved her Silver DofE by volunteering at Rainbows, doing ballet, learning the piano and completing two 3-day expeditions. •Well done to Alex who has achieved his Silver DofE by volunteering with the cubs, paying badminton, learning the drums and completing two 3-day expeditions. 8 DofE Mentors: •A special well done to Lucy and George (Gold DofE’ers) who qualified as DofE mentors and are currently mentoring the Bronze DofE’ers and supporting them with logging evidence on the online part of the award, as part of their own volunteering section. Well done to the Year 10’s who successfully completed their practice expedition for their Bronze DofE on the 15th and 16th June. Each of the four groups spent the Saturday walking across the countryside in Bewdley accompanied by a member of staff, learning valuable navigation skills. Saturday evening they all learnt how to use the gas stoves and cooked themselves a tasty meal (well, tasty if you like very burnt sausages or beans mixed with smash!). On Sunday morning, tents were packed into rucksacks, more bacon was stuck to frying pans and the groups set off unaccompanied. Two groups made it to the first checkpoint in good time and continued on their route. The third group arrived a short while later and the final group eventually got the map the right way up and made it to the checkpoint after covering a few ‘leisure miles’. The afternoon was spent walking along the river into Bewdley. A little sunshine was seen over the weekend but the British summertime didn’t fail to give us a good soaking too! Good luck to all the Bronze DofE’ers for their assessed expedition in July. Miss Houston This year has seen DofE’ers travelling to the following areas: •Bronze Practice Bewdley •Bronze Assessed Cotswolds •Silver Practice Long Mynd •Silver Assessed Elan Valley •Gold Practice Brecon Beacons •Gold Assessed Yorkshire Dales