Duke Of Ediburgh Award

Awards Evening Bronze Award

A special awards evening was held at Bolton School as students from the Girls’ and Boys’ Divisions celebrated picking up their Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates. All Senior School pupils at Bolton School complete the Bronze Award and many go on to achieve Silver and Gold Awards. Pupils from both Divisions provided their own perspectives on achieving the award. Hanna, who picked up a Gold certificate, had run the Wigan 10k race, gone on an expedition for four days trekking in the Lake District where she learnt teamwork and communication skills, had assisted young children at Beech House Infant School and had taken a job mucking out at stables. Kiera, who has already received her Bronze and Silver awards and is now working towards her Gold, spoke of how she has learned to play golf, taught in a dance school and helped out with Disability Snowsport UK, where she had picked up invaluable life lessons which can be used on her CV and talked about in future education and job interviews. This summer she will complete her Gold Award after a sailing adventure on a catamaran out of Portsmouth. Special guest for the evening was Old Girl Janette McCormick, now Deputy Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary, who presented pupils with their certificates. Reflecting on her time at Bolton School, she said it was here that she learnt to challenge things when they are wrong. She told the award recipients that they should be incredibly proud of themselves: not only have they done much good for the local community but they have also improved their own life skills including leadership, communication and team-working. She told the girls and boys that they form a community of 140 million volunteers across the globe and said: “Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy as, through your work, you vote everyday what kind of community you want to live in.” Headmistress Sue Hincks brought the evening to a close, offering her own huge congratulations and encouraging all pupils to go for the Gold Award as it is the epitome of what you can do as a young person. In my practice expedition I learned a number of skills and built up my physical ability which I enjoyed. On the first day we were dropped off at Barrow Bridge where we would start our expedition. We were given a map and a compass and had to navigate our way to Bibby’s Farm, where we would later set up our tents. In total for the first day we did about seven or eight hours of walking in the sun with fairly large bags on our backs. The first day was more of a challenge as there was a lot more walking involved and I had never used a map before but I feel I can now do that. When we got to the camp we had to set up our tents which I found quite simple to do. I also had to learn how to use a trangia to cook my dinner which was a new learning experience. On the second day we did less walking and walked for about four or five hours having small breaks in between, navigating as we went. Overall the experience was a bit tiring but I also learnt how to build my team working skills, use a map, set up a tent, use a trangia and build my physical strength which I enjoyed. Saira Hussain 9D

Overall I found D of E quite the experience. It was exciting, nerve wracking and fun. We learnt to take the correct equipment and even to alter the things we brought. Our instructors taught us how to use a map and compass to navigate around the area and, after a long day’s walk, we settled at camp. Everyone brought different meals, from Mac and Cheese to Meatballs and we ate using the stove. Eventually we went to sleep and were surprised to be woken at 7:00am by Mr Bradley. We quickly made breakfast and dissembled our tents to set off for yet another day of walking. The second day was my favourite out of the two. The sun was shining and we passed fields of sheep and horses, occasionally stopping to stroke them. Soon enough we reached the Scout Hut. The D of E experience is something I will remember, I will definitely go on to the Silver and maybe even Gold after the fun and hard work of doing Bronze.

Emilie Fielding 9B

For my physical section I completed a series of 5 kilometre courses every Saturday morning. It was quite challenging but very rewarding at the end. At first I wasn’t motivated at all; however, every week it became easier and I began getting faster times. The course was very difficult to start with, and at first it took me 45 minutes. Now I’m able to finish it in 35 minutes. I think this was beneficial because I’m getting fitter while having fun. I advise anyone who’s doing D of E to try something new and make sure that you enjoy doing it. Roxy Asumu 9G

For my D of E skills section, I have chosen to do drawing; a hobby which I enjoy. My main goal was to improve my shading gradation, something which I was not particularly good at as pencil was a medium which I rarely used, instead preferring markers. At the beginning of the three months, my drawings looked flat and had no depth. However, nearing the end I feel my shading and gradation greatly improved. I have learnt to use weight of line and I have gotten better at graduating from light to dark in my drawings. I really enjoyed doing this because it allowed me to improve something which I wouldn’t normally work on. Alexandra Greenwood 9D

For D of E we had to volunteer somewhere for either three or six months, so I decided to volunteer at the Woodlands Animal Sanctuary for six months. At the sanctuary I did different jobs and learnt different skills, which helped my confidence with animals. I started work cleaning out the hedgehogs. I managed to clean about 20+ beds in the hours I volunteered every Sunday. I also had to organise my work space, meaning that the hedgehogs could be cleaned out quickly and efficiently. Overall my experience with the hedgehogs helped me become more comfortable with animals I’m not used to working with. I would highly recommend this for anyone wanting to volunteer in the future.

Silver Award

Our group of 52 Silver Duke of Edinburgh expeditioners arrived on Friday lunchtime and met our instructors. We had to pack our bags and then headed out on a 5 mile walk to our campsite where we pitched the two-person tents. At 7pm we made our tea on the trangiers and drank hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows before getting into our tents. Saturday was a prompt start at 8am and, after breakfast, we set off for a full day of walking with the instructors, covering about 18km. After an early night, we were out walking on Sunday on our own and in teams of 6-10 girls. We had to take turns reading a map and learning to use a compass. We learnt how to react if someone fell unconscious and how to put them in the recovery position. Highlights of the trip were many, but we enjoyed stopping by a lake in the sunshine and taking pictures. It was a challenging, exhausting but rewarding experience and we look forward to the real expedition during the weekend of June 16-19th 2017. Lucy Stiles and Nuttall 10A

For my Physical I wanted to improve my fitness in order to be able to compete at a higher standard. I achieved my aim. Anabel Nuttall, 10F For her Skill section, Bryony Meech (10B) worked on improving her climbing ability. Her aim was to be able to do the harder routes easily by the end of this section. Ellie Gedman-King (10A, seated in the photo) did Young Enterprise for her Skill section. Her group was very successful, reaching the Manchester Finals.

Rachel McGinty (10E) volunteering at the Promenade Care Home where she undertook many activities to help the residents. She enjoyed the whole experience.

Gold Award

Sailing on Tenacity Hannah Shaw Year 13

After walking for both our Bronze and Silver Awards, we wanted to do something more exciting for our Gold expedition to end our DofE journey on a high. After exploring the options, we discovered that the ketch Tenacity of Bolton, built by the Boys’ Division and now operated by Tall Ships Youth Trust, offers voyages which meet the Gold expedition criteria. We were pleased to be given a generous donation from the Scott Trust to help fund the expedition. Bright and early on a Saturday morning, eight excited and tenacious girls got on a minibus bound for Inverkip Marina on the west coast of Scotland. Once on board Tenacity, we soon settled into our new, cosy environment where we would spend the next week in very close proximity with each other. Friendships and our resilience were tested in true DofE fashion! We began by completing two days of training where we were taught the basics of the boat, how to navigate, safety procedures which we hoped we wouldn’t have to use and, most importantly, how to actually sail the boat. However, we were grateful for our brief first aid training when one of our team members fell down the hatch on the first day, meaning we had to look after her whilst continuing to sail. The days were busy with various tasks to complete such as daily engine checks and looking after the boat. We had to plan our all our meals, catering for dietary requirements (and fussy eaters) and cooking at sea without electricity whilst the boat was keeling over dramatically. We were also tasked with planning our route, using maps and other navigational equipment, calculating the time we would spend sailing and looking for potential ports that would accommodate our requirements: electricity hookups, a big enough berth, and more importantly warm showers and wifi! Throughout the week we travelled around the Isle of Bute stopping at Largs, Tarbert, Bannatyne (with a population of around 10 people) and Rue, sailing the boat for up to eight hours and mooring at a different port each evening. We worked as a team, taking turns to sail the boat whilst others helped to tack and rope tie when necessary. We also had to update the log book often and monitor the equipment and readings. We soon became used to the unpredictable Scottish weather, enduring both sunny and stormy days. We were determined to continue sailing towards our destination without giving up, even if it meant being soaking wet and freezing cold. Though the work was hard, we had fun wherever possible. To name a few examples, one evening we explored and consequently fell in love with the town of Tarbert, and Hannah and I re-enacted the famous Titanic pose whilst singing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ on the last day as we moored into Inverkip Marina for the last time, much to the amusement of the other sailors there – not to brag, but we did get a standing ovation! In order to record our journey, we took it in turns to write a daily blog for the Tall Ships website, which was eagerly read by our families and other keen followers after our journey was featured on the School Facebook page. By the end of the week, we all agreed that it had been a fantastic experience. We had learnt new skills and had an amazing time whilst improving our teamwork skills and growing closer as a group. We are happy that we took the opportunity to do something different and unforgettable for our Gold expedition, which was a great finish to our Duke of Edinburgh Award. We are pleased to report that, following our expedition, Bolton School and Tall Ships Youth Trust are willing to offer sailing on the Tenacity of Bolton to any other group of girls who hope to do this for their DofE awards. This was an exciting once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we would highly recommend it.