Last weekend, the Lower Fifth, went on the Bronze DofE Practice Expedition. Throughout the year, we have all been working towards gaining our bronze DofE award by participating in charity work, skills and physical activities.

Our expedition consisted of arriving at school at 7:15am on Saturday morning, then getting on a coach to Harlow in Essex, where we would be spending the majority of our weekend (our spirits were very high). We got off the coach at around half 8 to see where we would be spending the night. It was a field. We got our equipment checked, and off we went at 11 with positive attitudes and plenty of snacks. By lunch, we had made good progress. Then only a couple hours later my group finished the first day of walking by 3:30pm laughing and smiling all the way – well, most of the way!

We spent the evening learning how to cook on the Trangias and playing in the field, but it soon got dark and the night began. None of us were prepared for the night. We got into the tents at 8:30pm and after 3 hours of gossiping, chatting. The night was cold, but the layers helped to keep us warm.

After all the tents had been packed up and shoved into bags, exhausted but still somewhat enthusiastic, we set off at 7am. We encountered some difficulties with map reading but our team spirit pulled us through. Despite this and the sleep deprivation, we were all still positive we would make it back soon. It was a tiring but enjoyable weekend. We finished with a great sense of achievement and all in all it was a great trip and would highly recommend.

Celia, LV