Christleton High School Students

Bronze to Gold, Our DofE Journey

Bronze to Gold, Our DofE Journey

(Posted on 12/12/22)

It has been five years since we began the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Year 9, and as we are nearing the end of our Gold award, the final stage, it feels odd to reflect on our journey towards completing the award. We can safely say that DofE gave us experiences and memories that will be hard to forget. Not only is climbing mountains in Snowdonia or avoiding cows in fields a part to remember but volunteering for our local communities and learning new skills is an unforgettable experience.

The first stage of DofE was in Year 9 when we completed the Bronze award. This stage consisted of 3 or 6 months of volunteering, a physical activity and a skill. The volunteering could be done anywhere; at the local charity shop, school departments, or even helping at dog shelters for 1 hour a week. Our physical activity could easily be achieved through school sports clubs, swimming clubs or even through going to the gym.

The skills were a choice of what we wanted to improve on in our spare time. The range of skills is endless, from playing the piano, learning how to cook or, when you're old enough, learning how to drive.

The second stage was our Silver, completed in Year 10. Although our silver experience was a little more locked-in than most, we persevered to finish our sections with the Special Award that was designed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, our time came to complete our silver expedition and after a global pandemic, we still were able to achieve our full award.

And finally for Gold. The most demanding of them all was by no means a simple task. A year of volunteering and physical activity, along with six months of a skill was a commitment to take whilst we entered our first year of A-Levels. Our expedition was the most challenging yet: walking with backpacks, setting up camp, making tea, then repeating it all again the next day for 5 days and 4 nights. But with the perfect weather, the right company, motivation in the form of Fruit Pastels and a few games of Uno, we successfully passed this section of our award.

Our Duke of Edinburgh award has provided us with many life skills, not to mention the bragging rights to say we have completed every aspect of the award. Coming to the end of this journey has felt bittersweet but we are thankful for every lesson this award has given us.

- Faye and Shannon, Year 13


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