Update: Duke of Edinburgh Award

Dear Parent/Carer,

Enrichment week expeditions

Firstly I would like to congratulate our young people who have been out in the Manx community completing their volunteering, skills, and physical sections of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. It has been heartening to see the work done by our participants in areas as diverse as gymnastics, Scouts, Crossroads Caring for Carers, and the Manx Hedgehog Conservation Society.

As you may be aware, the school is facing unprecedented staff shortages at this time. Although we have sufficient staff to carry out the expeditions, we cannot find cover to allow our DofE staff to supervise during school time. In light of this, we will be forced to move the planned expeditions to two weekends in September. The routes and groups will remain unchanged. The dates will be as follows:

The training day on Monday 18th July will also be cancelled; however, we will still treat the Memorial Walk as a training walk and expect students to arrive in school in full DofE kit with expedition rucksacks. They will walk with their tutor groups until Crosby playing fields where they will meet with DofE staff. They will walk back to school with DofE staff. During this time they will be learning map and compass reading skills. A kit list is attached to this letter, should students need to borrow any equipment, they should come and see me in the History office during tutor period this week.

We will be calling students in groups through the rest of the week to complete training in camp craft and first aid. Due to staff shortages, we are unable to provide a timetable for this; however, we will ensure that all students are qualified before the expeditions.

Please accept our apologies for any disappointment caused by this rescheduling; however, we are hopeful that all students who have completed their paperwork and eDofE sections will be able to complete their award on time to receive their certificate in March 2023.

Kris Breadner & Hannah Sansbury

DofE coordinators