Duke of Edinburgh award ramps up

From Duke of Edinburgh award co-ordinator, Gemma Brown

The Duke of Edinburgh award is a new initiative at the College and has seen a large number of students undertaking the Bronze award this year. The reward requires students to commit to regular participation in community service, learning a new skill and physical activity. It enables students to individualise their program and choose the activities which interest or suit them.

The award has seen Year 9 and 10 students visiting residents in aged care facilities, improving their artistic and photography skills, progressing their fluency in a language, assisting at Holdsworth Community Centre and computer programming; just to name a few.

Recently, the students completed their Bronze Adventurous Journey camps at Somerset where their navigation skills, initiative, grit and determination was tested as they hiked quite challenging trails, carrying all of their necessary equipment on their backs.

Said Luke Cochrane, Year 9 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award participant, “I believe camp was a memorable experience that really pushes you to your limit. From bottle crate stacking to an eight hour hike, every boy will find themselves out of their comfort zone. The campsite was a social place of story telling and knowledge sharing, and I believe every boy felt satisfied at the end of the camp.”

The award will be open to 2018 Year 9 students at the commencement of Term 1. I encourage parents of this cohort to keep an eye out for an update on the date of the information night which will be held once school returns next year.