Oswestry School Bellan House

OUTDOOR EDUCATION
standard for D of E and were obviously competent canoeists,
walkers and sea kayakers. High praise indeed!
THE BRONZE AWARD
The new cohort of “bronzes” has had a revamped training
package that has concentrated on developing skills and
attitudes for all three sections of the award rather than as a
stand-alone process for bronze. This has involved not only
the successful progressive weekend training but also
lunchtime sessions to ensure that participants are fully aware
of nutritional requirements and route-planning principles.
This has resulted in the cohort enjoying and easily achieving
their assessment routes over and around the Long Mynd
area above Church Stretton to Stiperstones.
It was very pleasing to see members of the group
navigate with confidence and assuredness whilst others
contributed in other ways either on the move through
physical ability or morale boosting, or even just as
importantly when in camp through cooking or organizing
tents. This was a very positive experience for both the
participants and the staff delivering the training or assessing
the candidates, and is a blueprint of good practice in
preparing young people for the expedition section of the
award that will stick.
All the participants felt the assessment was not as
physically challenging as the second practice over the
Berwyn near Llangollen but was far more testing
navigationally. It was also really pleasing to hear the
participants openly show appreciation for the countryside
around them. They now have a thorough grounding for
moving on to the silver award in September. This will
include a canoeing option which will be reported on in the
next issue.
KAYAKING
In addition to this award-directed work we have also been
able to offer kayaking on Wednesday afternoons to students
in year 10 and above. This has been helped greatly by the
school being able to purchase ten new, general-purpose
kayaks at the beginning of the year as a boat share with
Shrewsbury School, Shropshire Army Cadet Force and
Oswestry Canoe Club.
These sessions have been very popular and have seen
the participants graduate from flat-water sessions, where
they learned the basics of controlling their kayaks, to using
the white-water course at Llangollen where they learnt how
to shoot rapids as well as cross them and, in some cases, surf
the waves. This involved plenty of swimming at times but
every session finished with the participants grinning from
ear to ear.
delights of Marrakech and its bustling square, famed for its
street traders and entertainers.
FUTURE PLANS
Next year will be just as busy with walking and canoeing
groups at silver level for the Duke of Edinburgh’s award in
early September, as well as the possibility of a few weekends
which are not award related, allowing further sessions of
white-water kayaking, mountain biking or climbing in
Snowdonia. There is the redelivering of the successful bronze
training for the next cohort to embark on the worthwhile
Duke of Edinburgh’s award. The next cohort of golds will
also start their award. There are also the preparations for
eight students to embark on the training and final expedition
involving two sea-kayak expeditions in the Knoydart and
Outer Hebrides area of Scotland.
I would encourage all readers and both current and
former members of the school to look at the outdoor
education section of the activities area of the school website
to keep abreast of the ever-increasing number of
opportunities open to our school community.
All that is left is to thank the hard work and efforts of all
the staff who have added to the experiences that the young
people of the school have had, both through their individual
knowledge and enthusiasm for the environments they work
in, but also for their humour and interest in making the
experiences they deliver inspiring and educational. These
include our own staff of Mrs Lentink, Jason Till and Mr
Stockdale, but also our regular freelancers who are Di Lee,
Paul Kelsall, Sarah Tansell, Jo Billington, Dave Brown and
Louise Kennedy. A final big thank you must also go to Mr
Neville, Mr Arnott and Mr Morris for their support in
driving the groups to their drop off and pick up points, and
without whose logistical help none of this could have
happened.
AD Othen
MOROCCO
The last event to happen this year will be the group of twelve
students and two staff who are going to Morocco with the
intention of climbing Toubkal, which at 4200 metres is the
highest point in northern Africa. As well as the extended
trek in the Atlas Mountains the group will also enjoy the
Liam Chambers and Tom Llewellyn
56 The Oswestrian