Students have taken part in both Training and Practice Expeditions as well as their assessed Qualifying Expeditions – from coast and countryside routes at Bronze, the East and West  fringes of Dartmoor at Silver to an epic 90kms route from Bantham on the South Devon coast all the way up Okehampton across the whole of Dartmoor for our very first Gold Expedition teams.

All of the Expedition teams did really well despite some very challenging routes – big hills, extreme weather (both hot and sunny as well as wet, cold and windy!), long distances, remote terrain and of course the ‘wild camping’!

In addition to the Expedition, participants have been quietly getting on with their Volunteering, Physical, Skill and at Gold their Residential activity sections. In their Volunteering, our students have given up a total of 2327 hours of their time between 1^st April 2022 and 31^st March 2023 equating to a ‘social value ‘ of £11,192 – a feat that was recognised by DofE when the school was presented with a certificate which stated: 'we are immensely proud of the dedication, effort and achievement of the young people at Plymouth High who are making an impact in their communities’.

A special word must go to our very first Gold DofE groups in Years 12 and 13. Not only have they undertaken some wonderful Volunteering work but they have also taken on the challenge of completing a 5 day, 4 night Residential activity where they have worked in Youth Hostels, taken part in Outdoor Pursuits courses and one intrepid participant even travelled half way around the world to work in an eco-community project in Borneo. To cap it all they then completed what can only be described as an epic Gold Expedition where they walked 90kms over 4 days and 3 nights, ascended 2300m in height, battled some of Dartmoor’s notorious weather, crossed a river estuary, ascended the highest point on Dartmoor at High Willhays and Yes Tor, crossed a river estuary and all of this whilst ‘wild camping’. This was a truly amazing achievement!

As a result of all our students efforts over the past few years, Plymouth High is now ranked 4^th out of around 600 DofE centres in the South and South West of England in terms of the numbers of participants and the percentage of students who complete/receive their overall award.

In order to celebrate all of the achievements of our wonderful DofE students, we will be holding a DofE Presentation Evening on Tuesday 26^th September where all Bronze, Silver and Gold participants and their parents will be invited to attend.

Mr Payne – DofE Manager/PHSG