Extracurricular Activities: Learning Skills for Life - St Columba's School

4 | DuKe oF eDInBuRGH’s AWARD THE COLUMBAn ISSUE 31 THE COLUMBAn ISSUE 31 DuKe oF eDInBuRGH’s AWARD | 5
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Award Presentations
In late March James McAlpine, Convener of the School
Governing Board’s Building Committee, attended the Senior
School assembly to present Bronze and Silver level Duke of
Edinburgh’s Awards to thirteen pupils. Before handing over
badges and certificates to the successful participants, he spoke
with great enthusiasm about proposals for the development of
the School’s facilities. (Please see School website for details of
our development plans and profiles of all our Governors.)
Bronze Awards
Gavin Crawford Ila Khan
silver Awards
Rachael Baker Jordan McKinstry
Sally Bishop Charlotte Mitchell
Caitlin Findlay Jennifer Pirrie
Peter Hargreaves Joseph Reid
David Johnstone Katie Robins
Rachael McCabe
Introduction to the Dofe Course
Rebecca Grant P J Rankin
Peter Hargreaves Kirsty Rarity
Graeme Mann Katie Wood
So, what does the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award involve?
Participants give us an insight into some of the activities they
have undertaken:
Volunteering (Jordan McKinstry and Katie Robins)
Finding a placement to complete the Silver Level volunteering
section initially proved a challenge, until Mrs Marr (Director
of Outdoor Education) suggested that we paint a mural to be
placed in the children’s garden of Quarrier’s Village. It sounded
like an original idea, so we decided to give it a go. We spent a
great deal of time planning the project and after visiting the
site, we decided upon a wildflower theme. The actual artwork
was carried out in the School’s outdoor education centre in our
spare time during term and over the holidays. We were grateful
for the help of three other girls in our year group – Amy Brown,
Charlotte Mitchell and Sophie Rankin – who had some hours to
make up to complete their volunteering section at Silver Level.
Once the job was completed and the mural placed in the
garden at Quarriers we were delighted, not only with how
it looked, but also with the appreciation with which it was
received. We all felt that the project was a rewarding and
worthwhile experience.
expedition (sally Bishop and Caitlin Findlay)
Unfortunately, owing to a collision of dates, the practice
expedition for Silver participants offered in the School’s
calendar last session clashed with the week a number of us
were due to spend training with the national Youth Girls’
Choir – Rebecca Ronney and Jennifer Faint being the other
two participants. However, we were determined to undertake
our hike and chose to do it out of school through the Outdoor
Activity Centre at Ardeonaig.
Our practice hike provided a real learning curve. With little
or no hiking experience, the route we planned discounted hill
contours, rivers, marshes and quarries! Fortunately the centre
looked at our plan and helped us tweak it into something
more manageable. However, it was still a challenging hike
and a huge jump from the one we’d undertaken at Bronze
level. The practice hike was also hampered by the extreme
weather conditions – so severe that the centre decided to
end the hike prematurely. When subsequently planning our
actual hike, we took into account a lot of what we’d learned
from our mistakes and tried to stick to the paths, particularly
cycle paths, in the area. Additionally, our knowledge of map
reading had improved and we knew how to use land marks
and geographical features to keep us in the right direction.
In complete contrast to our practice hike, the weather was
beautiful. After initial feelings of anxiety, the mood of our
team soon turned to uplifted and happy when we got out onto
the hills. In fact, there were no problems this time and instead
we really got to appreciate the beautiful scenery. Completing
the expedition section out of school was at first quite
intimidating, but we all gained a real sense of achievement
by completing this section through both our own means and
some really hard work.
Leadership Award (Katie Wood)
This year six SVI pupils took on the challenge of the Duke
of Edinburgh’s Leadership Award. Peter, Graeme, Rebecca,
Kirsty, PJ and myself have thoroughly enjoyed working
with our SIII mentor groups. We have helped out at cookery
sessions, emergency procedures and navigation days as part
of the practical module. The theory of the award has been
particularly interesting and beneficial to our leadership and
communication skills. The award is something that we all
feel will be of great use in later life. We would like to take this
opportunity to thank Mrs Marr for all her hard work and all the
time she has given up for us.