BY SAHI K (9H)

On the 27th and 28th of January, Year 9’s who are participating in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award took part in a training session with some very experienced instructors who taught them the essentials for getting through the DofE expedition. We were split into groups, and each was sent off with different instructors. We had 2 very productive days where we did many activities, including setting up gas stoves, setting up tents, plotting their routes, and going on a practice walk around Brookmans Park.

Firstly, we talked with our instructor about the journey and the important things that we were going to be doing—walking, eating, talking, taking breaks, etc. We figured out how long our route would take if we walked at 3 km/h and found that our journey would roughly take about 6 hours (breaks and lunch inclusive) and also how we would allocate time for breaks and lunch. We finally decided to take 10-minute breaks every hour and a 30-minute lunch break.

Next, we had a chance to learn how to set up gas stoves and all of the safety measures necessary to do this. The instructor showed us how to use the handle to grab onto each of the pans so that there was no risk of accidentally burning ourselves on a hot pan. We boiled some water and then disassembled the stoves, putting all the equipment back carefully where it was found.

Then, we did some route planning; this was quite a fun activity. We learned how to scale the maps and how to use strings in order to do this. We worked together to find a route that had a length of about 14 km on the first day and 12 km on the second, which worked really well within the ranges we had allocated. Our instructor also went through how to read certain signs on maps; for example, straight, thin black lines are field boundaries, and crosses often mean religious places of worship.

The next day, we were ready to set out first thing in the morning with our walking boots and one big rucksack that we would alternate amongst ourselves. Before we left, our instructor taught us how to use a compass and set the compass to tell where we were going. We went on a big circular walk around Brookmans Park, and it was really fun (and muddy too!). We took breaks and had snacks, and luckily the weather was sunny, so we didn’t have too much trouble getting around. We faced some challenges when we found out that the map was a bit different from the current place as it seemed to have changed, so there was no longer a public right of way where we thought there was. We overcame this by looking out for other ways that would connect us back to the main road, and luckily we found one!

When we made it back to school, we changed out of our muddy shoes and went inside to look at the final topic: first aid. We did an activity where we were told to arrange lots of cards with a scenario of what you would do if someone on your team had a sprained ankle. We did surprisingly well with a couple of corrections, which helped us know for the future what to do and prioritise in such a situation. We also were taught how to set up and deconstruct a tent, and after, we were able to go inside, which was fun to see how big the space was.

On a final note, the training session was incredibly informative, and I think I can say collectively that we give our thanks to the absolutely amazing instructors who gave us their time to teach us the essentials of DofE expedition training. Thank you all!