In stark contrast to the amber weather warning for high temperatures, which saw the original date postponed, they set off in bitterly cold winds. This did not seem to dampen the mood though with all the groups eager to complete the expedition and have fun doing it. 

A slight navigational error very early on saw a couple of groups go off track, ably followed by the staff who were trail walking. All groups were able to correct themselves and were soon back on track. The pace of each group seemed good, with the only thing seeming to slow one group down being how many stops they took.

When arriving at the campsite, everyone was able to set up home for the night by successfully pitching their tent and then cooking a tasty meal on their trangias. By night fall about 19:30, everyone was heading for their beds ... anyone would think the 13km walk had tired them out!

The next morning they were up bright and early ready to cook breakfast, clean their trangias and then dismantle camp before walking to the final destination for the Bronze groups. This involved another walk of a similar distance taking in the amazing scenery of the Cotswold Way.

The Silver group had one more night and another walk on day 3, having already walked two long days, the longer of the two being the second day at about 18km. However, spirits were high and after Mr Higgs started talking about how to increase participation for Silver, they set about making short TikTok style videos of how much fun they were having. The final edits may make it into the year 8 assembly in March, when we promote the DofE to the next cohort.

The weekend proved to be a great success, with all groups successfully completing the expedition, which means that 20 of the 34 who we took away will complete their awards once the assessor reports come in for the expedition. The others are just finishing off their final sections and will also hopefully complete their awards shortly.