Duke of Edinburgh students back on track

Mr Scott writes:

At the weekend our Direct Gold Joint Award group completed their expedition training. On Friday evening they donned their head torches and enjoyed a bit of navigation practice in and around Donard Forest, followed by some trangia cooked cuisine. In the evening with Mr Mayers they completed training on emergency procedures, with Miss Mawhirt completing the evening with arguably the most important session of all being 'What to do if you need the loo? on expedition’!

Following a bite of supper the group lived every student's dream by spending their Friday night, at school, in a tent!

On Saturday morning the students embarked on a 17km day walk through Donard forest, into Tollymore and round to Meelmore Lodge. Following lunch, they conquered Hares Gap and returned to school via the Brandy Pad and the Glen River. Even when the going got tough, the craic was still mighty. A few slips here and there and the odd ‘knee-deep-in-mud’ provided some laughs along the way.

I was really impressed with the attitude and motivation shown all weekend and we now look forward to a 4-day practice expedition in early April, followed by a final expedition in Donegal at the end of June.

Well done to all!

Students involved

Blaithin Gribben

Kirsten Cunningham

Lara Sharkey

Maeve Fitzpatrick

Dana Leckey

Nancy O'Baoill Coyle (completed her training on Friday evening then represented Shimna in the Mock Bar event on Saturday!)