DofE Bronze and Silver expeditions 

During the October half term, 19 students set out on a three-day expedition for their Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Awards. Three teams were practising for their Silver, and one team successfully completed its final expedition for the Bronze award – congratulations to them! 

They started in Sussex, travelling from the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, past Tunbridge Wells and on through the Kent countryside, racking up approximately 60km over the three days. 

The trip went well, despite the weather which was very unpredictable, with a lot of rain on the second day. We suspect that some students will re-evaluate their clothing for the next expedition, as some waterproofs were not waterproof at all! 

The Silver groups all had successful trips and learnt some lessons along the way, which will be invaluable for their final expeditions next year. The teachers managing the trip were also very impressed by the ideas for food being cooked at camp each night, with one student even making himself a cooked lunch in the morning to take with him. 

Fourth Year Tommy completed his DofE Bronze Award and says, “We felt quite prepared for our expedition as we had spent a long time planning the route and had packed reasonably well. On the first day, we all felt good setting out and the hike went well – we only left our route a couple of times and were able to recover from it easily. Unfortunately, due to a late start, by the time we got to the campsite it was evening, and we had to set up camp in the dark which was quite tricky. Luckily, we had head torches, so it wasn’t too bad.  

“We knew it was going to rain in the morning, so we woke up early and packed up and cooked before the rain started and set out as quickly as possible. Our route that day was very challenging as we were in tricky-to-navigate areas, in pouring rain, while having to ascend a lot. We managed to finish the hike despite a member of our group sustaining an injury and it wasn’t too bad in the end.” 

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Trinity School, Croydon, runs an engaging DofE programme, providing students with the opportunity to develop a wide range of valuable skills. Through physical activities, volunteering, and skill-building challenges, participants gain confidence, resilience, teamwork, and leadership abilities. A number of expeditions run each year, with students trekking in the Southeast region or further afield using the Boetius Centre, our outdoor centre in South Wales, as a base.