Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition 2024
Tuesday, 21st May 2024
Last week, an extraordinary group of young of students set out on this year’s Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition. Starting at Rivington and Blackrod High School, students had to use their map reading skills to navigate to specific checkpoints across Rivington Pike before reaching the day one endpoint at Bibby’s Farm, Chorley.
Along the way, students worked as a team, carrying all their belongings to overcome obstacles and solve various problems. At each checkpoint, we were met with enthusiasm for the challenge, smiles, and stories of the day. Despite a couple of detours here and there, all groups successfully made it to the campsite and set up their tents for the evening. The stoves were then fired up for the evening delicacies, mainly consisting of pasta, the broadest range of pot noodle flavours we had ever seen, and even a hotpot pre-cooked by a student’s grandparents – this went down very well with that group!
After some downtime, students mingled with our partner school students from Rivington and Blackrod. The evening was a fantastic experience for all the students, who made new friends, ran about in an open field, played Frisbee, and enjoyed each other’s company. It was a really refreshing sight and experience for all involved. Students were impeccable with their behaviour and respect for the environment before settling for the evening.
Rise and shine. Day two saw wake-ups beyond the day-to-day experience. Whether it was the lightness of the sunrise at 5am or the sounds of the birds having their morning sing, our students really didn’t need an alarm clock. By 7am, half of the students were up, had packed away their tents, and were re-energising with breakfast, ready for the second half of the expedition.
Before setting off, they were enthused to learn their Day 2 ice cream treat at Frederick’s was not too far away. With that, all groups set off successfully, fully packed, and left the campsite as they found it – litter-free! All students enjoyed their well-earned ice cream in the sunshine before setting off for the final stretch. The long final section tested their resilience. Using improved map skills from day one, all groups successfully navigated their way to the final checkpoint, Liverpool Castle. As each group emerged from the trees to see the endpoint, there was a range of emotions from sheer delight to exhaustion, but all were full of happiness at their achievement. After a well-deserved rest as each group filtered in, we had a far quieter and more tired bus journey back to school before students left to sleep all weekend.
Mr Porteous commented, “The Duke of Edinburgh Expedition for many of our students is not just a walk, but a walk into the unknown. They walk into an area they have never been to, carrying an overpacked backpack across terrain they are not used to. It challenges students to apply newly learned skills and be part of a team in every sense of teamwork. But as we have seen in the past, this group of individuals really did rise to the challenge. Two values that underpin what we are at Harper Green are resilience and pride. All students were tested physically and emotionally across the two days; they showed resilience to overcome those challenges and maturity in making important and safe decisions. For this, I am immensely proud of their conduct and effort, and they should be, too! Well done to you all; you did yourselves, your loved ones, and your school proud.”
