DofE at Gets Up-and-running at Derrymount
DMS Duke of Edinburgh programme
Andrew and I are really pleased that that a number of students have persevered in a determined way towards achieving the DofE Bronze Award – which is no mean feat! Actually, at the time of writing, our first practice expedition is only a few days away and the first batch of DMS participants students will hopefully graduate in time before they leave.
Our second group will take their practice in July and final expedition in September, with a view of graduating before the end of this year’s DofE season.
We’re really proud of all of the students that have taken part this year and really hope to take more students through their Bronze and a group of 2nd year AS/DofE students through the Silver Award during our next academic year.
With the above in mind, we must say a massive THANK YOU to Jackie Bull at DofE Central for helping us secure some important funds to help us get our DofE (and Adventure School) programme up and running. Not only have we been able to purchase the kit we need to run the DofE programme, we have also been able to develop our Adventure School into a key part of DMS; DofE and AS provide valuable opportunities for our young people to get outside, get active and see and reach the potential that is within them (which is sometimes buried and needs uncovering).
Below are a few images of the students organising our kit, and wrestling with one of our expedition shelters when 8 of them were trying to get inside 🙂
Thanks again to everyone involved with this term’s Adventure School, particularly Go Outdoors and DofE Central for helping with kit.
The DofE future at DMS is up, but shhhhh… not too much rejoicing – it might upset the neighbour.
Bronze DofE (final expedition)
With the rescheduled second group of Duke of Edinburgh final less that a week away we would like to wish all the students good luck in completing this monumental task and that we hope the weather stays great for you, and as a reminder that this will take place on 18th & 19th September.
For the parents and carers of the young people please find below copies of all the letters that have been sent home with the young people. If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Mr Tuckwood or Mr Meek.
DofE Bronze Final Itinerary
All timings are subject to change throughout the day dependant on how well group are doing and other external factors.
Tuesday 18th September 2018
09:00 Arrive at school
09:15 Leave School in Minibus
10:15 Arrive at Carpark at Mining Low (Derbyshire)
10:30 Begin Expedition
AT & SB to walk with Group, TM to meet at checkpoint throughout the day
17:00 Arrive at campsite (Rivendale Campsite)
- Set up tents
- Cook food
- Debrief on Day
- Relax & Sleep (Pupils may contact parents if they wish too)
Wednesday 19th September 2018
07:30 Wakeup call
- Cook Breakfast
- Pack rucksacks
- Drop and pack away tents
- Brief for the day
09:00 Leave Campsite
AT & SB to walk with Group, (If the group have performed well on the Tuesday then AT & SB will drop back and supervision will become close rather than Direct.) TM to meet at checkpoint throughout the day (If the group performs well whilst in close supervision they will complete the last section of the Tissington trail with remote supervision.
16:00 Arrive at finish point (Tissington Trail Carpark)
16:15 Set off for school – Pupils to contact parents once on way home to let them know ETA
17:15 Arrive back at school (Time subject to change)
EXPEDITION KIT LIST
Clothing
- 1 pair of walking boots (broken in)
- 2 pairs of walking socks
- 1 to wear 1 as a spare
- 2 t-shirts
- 1 to wear 1 as spare
- Thermal t-shirt (optional)
- 1 fleece tops or jumper
- 2 walking trousers (warm, NOT jeans)
- 1 to wear 1 as spare
- Underwear
- 1 change of
- Nightwear
- Flipflops/trainers/sandals etc (optional for camp site use)
- Warm hat &/or sunhat (as appropriate)
- 1 pair gloves (if appropriate)
- 1 pair shorts (if appropriate)
- Waterproof over-trousers
- Jacket/coat (waterproof & windproof)
Personal kit
- Rucksack liner (or 2 strong plastic bags)
- Sleeping bag (School can provide)
- Torch (handheld or head torch and spare batteries)
- Personal first aid kit
- Expedition food
- Lunch time meals for both days and and any snacks wanted for the day time and evening
- Water bottle
- At least 2 litres of water (several small bottles okay)
- Knife, fork, spoon
- Plate/bowl
- Mug
- Wash kit/personal hygiene items (some items could be shared as a group)
- Sunblock (if appropriate)
- Towel
Adventure School – ready for a new academic year
DIY Adventure School improvements
In preparation for the autumn and winter (hard to imagine during the amazing run of weather we’ve had this summer), we decided to make a few adjustments to the Adventure School layout; nothing major but hopefully the tweaks will make a difference.
1. ‘Dry area’ extension
We’ve moved the spare frame we had in the old AS area up to our new base, and used it to extend the covered over area by the fire pit. We used a tarpaulin and some canvas scraps to try and give us increased cover and protection: we needed to improvise with a bucket (see if you can spot why and how in the photograph).
2. Removed the fire pit!
Yes, that’s right the fire pit has gone – well, not gone… just moved.
3. Added a wood burning camping stove and chimney
Yay, we’re so excited by this. We used the old tiles from the fire pit to create a base for a new stove and chimney, which will mean:
- No more smoke in the eyes (or on the clothes) – well, not as much as before anyway!
- The stove will give off a lot of heat ensuring we’ll be snug and warm all through the winter (that’s the plan at least)
- Hot water will be a lot more readily available
- We’ll be able to cook outdoors more easily
We have more DIY planned going forwards, as well as developing the wider space that we have to work with – but that will be the job of the DofE group as this is their volunteering project.
End of update!
DMS DofE group complete their Bronze award
Well done, lads!
It’s really exciting to be able to share the news that Derrymount’s first ever DofE group has completed the DofE Bronze Award. We are all so proud of the group of four lads who were part of this amazing achievement.
Just waiting for official sign off from Nottinghamshire.
More details coming soon!
Adventure School gets a make over
All hands to the pump (or to the nettles in reality)
Ever since a neighbour backing onto the school expressed a lack of enthusiasm towards our outdoor endeavours – I think the sound of happy and enthusiastic students got a bit too much for him – we started considering our options and eventually we decided to move our Adventure School HQ a number metres along our boundary fence.
Now, this wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it hadn’t been for the fact that the 100m we had to move was home to: nettles, brambles and years of uncontrolled natural growth (no, I’m not talking about Andrew’s beard here).
But rather than seeing this as a problem, we saw this as an opportunity to get the students practically immersed in a hands-on get-stuck-in project that would benefit them and the school in general (for years to come). We set to work removing branches, sticks, nettles, brambles and much more and using freshly cut (and kindly donated) tree chippings.
The result: a safe and usable area… check out the last photo below.
Great job everyone!
The job isn’t finished though (we have big ideas), but as you can see, things are looking a lot better and we’re back to normal with the bushcraft and outdoor hands-on activities which we all enjoy. There’s even a hammock or two for those that just need to lay back, look at the canopy and chill.
