Year 11 Students Complete The Gold Duke of Edinburgh International Award Qualifying Journey

Thirteen Year 11 students completed the Gold Duke of Edinburgh International Award Qualifying Journey at the end of May.

Thirteen Year 11 students have completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh International Award Qualifying Journey.

“You discover a side of yourself which you probably didn’t even know existed,” said Year 11 student Sophia G., after completing the Gold Duke of Edinburgh International Award Qualifying Journey at the end of last month. “Initially I didn’t want to do Duke of Ed but my parents encouraged me to do it so I did and it has been the best thing ever! I would recommend it to any other student.”

From Monday 26th May to Thursday 29th May the school had 13 Year 11 students complete their Gold Duke of Edinburgh International Award Qualifying Journey. The Gold Award is the final and most demanding level of the Duke of Edinburgh Award and in addition to the physical recreation, skills, voluntary service and residential project components, the students are also required to undertake an ‘Adventurous Journey’.

This ‘journey’ or hike involved four days and three nights hiking and camping along the Colo River in the Central Tablelands of NSW. Students were accompanied by Mr C. Foran and were required to carry their own food and equipment. The students slept in tents and for many it was the setting up of the tents each night which presented one of the many challenges. “The hardest part was setting up the tent in the rain on the first night,” said Sophia. “Everything got very wet and then we discovered our tent was broken so the first night was shocking.” “It was very cold each night so setting up the tents by ourselves was a challenge,” said Tanisha S. “Our hands were freezing.”

Despite the tent challenges all the students who took part spoke of the initial challenge of working together which soon became a highlight. “Initially the biggest challenge for me was working with everyone else and finding the best way to bond so that everyone could successfully complete the journey,” continued Tanisha. For Zoe K. it was the connection she made with the other students that is the highlight she will remember most. “It was only a small group however at the beginning we didn’t know each other really well and now we are all close,” Zoe said. “I faced a lot of mental hurdles where I thought I couldn't do something but with the help of the group I was able to tell myself that I could do it. I left feeling accomplished once I had completed the hike.”

Ella B. is a Year 11 student who says she is always interested in going outdoors and also enjoys working in a team so for her the hike was an “awesome” experience. “For the first night it was raining, the second night it was very cold and we could hear the sound of animals during the night, and for the third night we were at a farm and it was dogs howling and an early morning rooster, so every night was an experience!” Ella said. “It was nice to do something which I hadn’t done before and the experience of everyone joining together and supporting each other through the ups and downs, both physical and emotional, was nice. One of the girls dropped her dinner on the first night so we all put in together to give her food. No one was ever left behind or alone, we worked together to overcome each challenging situation.”

Perhaps one of the nicest takeaways comes from Sophia who said the experience gave her a new appreciation on how who we surround ourselves with can influence our accomplishments. “I have now learnt that those who I have around me can help me accomplish things that I didn’t even know I could accomplish. It has helped me understand how important the community you have around you is.”