Eight of our Year 10 students set off early from St John's on Friday morning, heading for Onecote in the Peak District, the starting point of the Qualifying Expedition for their Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award.

We arrived in Onecote to overcast conditions, ideal for undertaking a long hike! The students set off positively and by the afternoon the clouds had vanished - we were treated to beautiful views of the sunny Peak District. Mr Doughty, Mr Bereit and Mr Ward spent the day checking the students were on track (which they were!) and very much enjoyed being in the great outdoors! Both groups made it into camp well before nightfall and enjoyed cooking hot meals over the stoves and sharing stories about their encounters with cows…

The following morning we awoke to rain hammering on the tents. Despite the unfavourable conditions, the students set off early after quickly cooking a hot breakfast. As the day progressed the weather improved and the students made excellent progress. On the Saturday evening in camp, we played frisbee in the glorious sunshine with spectacular views of the surrounding hills (although the relentless wind made this trickier than it might have been otherwise!).

Unfortunately, we again awoke to rainfall the following morning. No matter - the students packed up their tents and hit the road with very little fuss. During the hiking on Sunday, students explored a church in Winster and were treated to amazing natural scenery as the weather improved once again. Both groups had finished their expeditions by late afternoon and after a quick debrief with their assessor, Mr Ward, were ready to head home to Brackley. The students were a credit to the school for the entire expedition - we are looking forward to them taking on the challenge of the Gold Award!