Year 9 successfully complete their Duke of Edinburgh expedition this week!
On Tuesday 20th June, Bradford Forster Academy took 38 students on Expedition to complete their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. The good old British weather did not do us justice and rained the whole day. However, this did not stop the BFA students they showed resilience, leadership and confidence in their ability to continue even though they were soaked to the bone. The students were dropped at Harewood House and the first hour was successful with no-one going wrong. All groups were through the first check point on time. Later in the day some of the student’s mood seemed low as they were tired and wet, but some brilliant students went around with sweets and cheered everyone up. They all were off on their way walking down towards Bramhope Scout camp. A massive shout out to one group who set off last but arrived first at the camp site, they showed fantastic endurance.
The evening was much better the sun came out the students started to put tents up and cook their meals and started to relax. Some of them started having a water fight, some played rugby, some relaxed and others explored the camp site.
The second day was fantastic! All groups were up and away by 9.30am and heading towards Otley Chevin. This is the point where students needed their map skills as the forest can be confusing. But all groups were through all the check points and arrived at the top of Otley and had an ice cream and enjoyed the view.
The final leg of the expedition was walking down into Menston and again all students were successful in navigating to the correct check points. All 38 students and 5 staff arrived safely in the train station waiting for the bus to take us back to BFA.
Rachael Murphy-Dawson, Duke of Edinburgh Lead at Bradford Forster Academy, said:
“This whole trip was fantastic, and all students successfully passed their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award. I am so proud of everyone and can’t wait to do it all over again next week with our second group!”