D of E Silver Expedition to Exmoor

The Year 10 students working on their Duke of Edinburgh Award completed an expedition on Exmoor in June. Three teams left school in the sunshine on Thursday to make their way to the starting camp in Porlock. With an early start to make most of the cooler mornings, the teams set off to climb up onto Exmoor. The temperatures soon rose and the teams had to carefully manage themselves and each other to make it to camp in the shady Doone Valley. The next day brought low clouds and lots of rain, but the teams kept their spirits up and pushed onto the final camp; a beautiful spot overlooking Lynton. The final day’s walk brought more settled weather and a dramatic climb up from Lynmouth onto the South West Coastal footpath. The teams eventually made their way round and up to cross back into Somerset at County Gate.

It was a fantastic effort from everyone - despite everything Exmoor threw at them they kept together as a team, showed resilience and had smiles throughout. Congratulations to Joe Crawford, who, on completion of the expedition, became the first St Katherine's Student to complete the Silver Award in over 10 years! Well done to all the rest who are finalising their other sections too.

A huge thank you to the staff who supported this expedition and the others that have taken place this year. 

Mr Hodgson, Outdoor Education Lead