Duke of Edinburgh Awards

We presented six Duke of Edinburgh awards during assembly today. They were presented by special guest, Mr Russell Dixon, who was our award leader and Guidance Counsellor for many years. It was a privilege for him to come back for the ceremony, as he has put a lot of hard work into helping these students achieve their awards.

Mat Harris explained the award and invited students to sign up and we heard from Ben and Edward about their recent tramp, and Megan about her Outward Bound experience.

A big congratulations to the following Award Recipients:

Gold

Jocelyn Fellowes

Silver

Megan Dodd
Fergus McMullan
Ellen Swanson (In Absentia - Yr13 2020)

Bronze

April Linares-Fontona
Katelyn Walton

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Tramp

Zac, Ben, Edward and Yi Tao headed out for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh tramp in the Waianakarua Area recently with Mr Olsen and Mat Harris. The boys spent the two challenging days climbing, looking for deer and enjoying views across North and East Otago with many memorable experiences.

Big thanks to Jimmy McGeown and Russell Dixon for picking them up at the end!

We are about to begin sign ups for the Duke of Edinburgh award next week, so stay tuned if you are interested in participating.

Silver/Gold Duke of Edinburgh Tramp

Some photos of the recent Silver/Gold Duke of Edinburgh tramp in the Ruataniwha/Ohau area up the Huxley River to Brodrick Hut in the Southern Alps.

 
Mr Harris and Mr Olsen were away with the group of 9 students for their Adventurous Journey for the Silver and Gold Awards. They were also away in the middle of the Covid Alert Level change!

Thanks to Mr Harris for the great photos.

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey

Last week our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh students did their Adventurous Journey tramp at Chinaman's Hut.

Well done to everyone for taking part, and a big thanks to Mr Mat Harris and Mr Tiernach Farrell for your supervision and guidance on the camp.

📷: Mat Harris

Gold Duke of Edinburgh- Lucy Hellewell

Congratulations to Lucy Hellewell (Year 13 2019) for receiving The Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award - Gold Certificate at a ceremony in Christchurch on the 11th of October. 

Her Excellency The Right Honourable Dame Patsy Reddy GNZM, QSO Governor-General of New Zealand attended the ceremony to congratulate and meet the awardees and the Gold award was presented to Lucy by Peter Hillary (Son of Sir Edmund Hillary).

A big thank you to Mat Harris for all the support he provides to our Duke of Edinburgh students.

Gold and Sliver Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey

Gold and Sliver Duke of Edinburgh students recently completed a 3 night adventurous journey at the start of the holidays. 

The weather forced a change in plans from tramping in the Ōhau area to basing themselves locally and tramping in the Herbert Forest, Trotters Gorge and Windsor areas. They completed approximately 30km of journeying and learnt how to make safe decisions by embracing some challenging weather conditions with lots of wind, rain and snow. The students had to fully prepare for the tramp themselves, cook, and spend some nights out in tents. 

Thanks to Mr Farrell and Mr Harris for supervising the tramp! 

We currently have over 60 students participating in the Duke of Edinburgh programme, and are looking forward to getting out for some more tramping over the next few months!

Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awarded to Joel Kunnethedan

A big congratulations to Joel Kunnethedan who has completed his Gold Duke of Edinburgh!

Joel committed to the following activities to complete his third and final award:

- Skills: Engineering

- Physical Recreation: Squash

- Voluntary Service: an NCO at our local Air Training Corps & SKC LEOS Club.

- Adventurous Journey: Tramp with Mr Dixon, and ATC Tramps

- Residential Project: New Zealand Cadet Forces Leadership course at Burnham Military Camp

Well done also to Christiane McLeod who has completed her Bronze award.

Duke of Edinburgh Awards

Congratulations to Amy Coutts (Year 13 last year) who has been awarded her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. Amy completed it while she was still at school, but admin processing was delayed over the holiday break.

Amy completed the following:

Physical Recreation: Running, Football and Horse riding

Skills: Hockey Coaching, and Horse Care

Service: Youth Group leadership, Food Bank and Coaching

Residential Project: Outward Bound

Adventurous Journeys: Outward Bound, and at School with Mr Dixon.

Well done to Rhea Ratgali, Fergus McMullan and Fern Mcrostie who were awarded their Bronze Award recently.

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey- Chinaman's Hut

Recently we had our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh students complete their Adventurous Journey trip at Chinaman's Hut, a backcountry hut located on farmland near Dansey's Pass. Each trip had 8 students and there were two overnight trips- Friday/Saturday and Monday/Tuesday.

Here are some photos of their journey. A big thank to Mr Mat Harris and Mr Sam Tatupu for supporting the students on the trip.

Gold Duke of Edinburgh for Rata McMullan and Lucy Hellewell!

We have received confirmation from National Office that Rata McMullan and Lucy Hellewell have completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh, which will be formally presented at a ceremony next year.

Gold is the third and final level of the Award, and takes a minimum of 12 months to complete. There are three specific sections—Service, Skills and Physical Recreation plus an Adventurous Journey and a Residential Project.

The photos below show the girls on their Adventurous Journey's, Rata with the rest of the crew at Lake Ōhau, and Lucy on the way to Macetown from the Branches Station in Queenstown on Tarquin.

Rata also played the Violin for her Skills, Hockey for her Physical Recreation, did tutoring and leadership at school for her Service, and completed Outward Bound as her Residential Project.

Lucy undertook horse care and handling as her Skills, horse riding for her Physical Recreation, led a youth group for her Service, and her Residential Project was a Young Farmers Leadership Camp.

Awesome achievement girls, well done!

Jocelyn Fellowes Achieves Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award

Congratulations to Year 11 student Jocelyn Fellowes who was presented with her Silver Duke of Edinburgh award at assembly today.

Young New Zealanders who attain Silver have invested a minimum of six months to achieve this Award. The Award involves giving service to the community, developing new skills, a commitment to physical well-being, and the training, planning and undertaking of a journey or exploration in the outdoors.

Jocelyn invested in the following areas for her award:

- Physical Recreation: Swimming, Hockey and Fitness
- Skills: Driving
- Service: Library
- Adventurous Journey: Dingleburn and Chinaman's Hut

Well done Jocelyn!

📷: Anna Taylor