YEAR 10 students at Kingsmead School in Wiveliscombe working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award have undertaken their Assessed Expedition – one of four elements of the Bronze Award programme.

The eight teams of students taking part were required to walk their own planned route over two days carrying all the equipment required for an overnight camp on Exmoor.

In preparation for the weekend the students had spent months planning, preparing and practising – they had a practice expedition in April and spent time learning skills such as map reading, camping skills and first aid.

Student Chloe King said: “Duke of Edinburgh was the best experience ever! My team walked 15km on the Saturday and 11km on the Sunday. However, we were unlucky with the weather as it did rain heavily.

“As a group we navigated ourselves across Exmoor quite well, although we were confused on which path to take at one point, so because we were looking for a river, we scrambled down a steep marshy hill and nearly fell over a few times. Overall with pretty scenes and a nice sausage stew, Duke of Edinburgh was an incredible, exciting weekend.”

Student Immy Constance said: “It was an amazing experience. The rain didn’t really bother our group, we just kept on going. They were long, hard walks but fun. We laughed and smiled all the way. Our team worked well together and we sang songs to keep ourselves motivated. The countryside was amazing.”