Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards

Duke of Ed news

We are so excited that the Department of Education’s Term 4 COVID-19 guidance allows overnight excursions to go ahead, subject to preparation of a suitable plan. Yay!!!

We are going to attempt to run the Bronze expedition (with the grade split in two to allow more social distancing at camp), two Silver expeditions and a Gold practice expedition during the term. We are considering a Bronze expedition camping at Cockatoo Island combined with some harbourside walks, two Silver expeditions at the Royal National Park and the Great North Walk and a Gold Practice expedition at the Royal National Park. We are gathering expressions of interest from Silver/Gold participants and will then be able to make bookings and confirm dates.

If we can get a booking at Cockatoo Island, then year 9 students will be provided with a tent and a sleeping mat, but will need to carry their sleeping bag for the two days using their own backpack. Silver and Gold participants will need to provide all their own food and equipment, including tents, stoves and suitable backpacks. The Term 4 COVID-19 guidance does not include any restrictions on transport, so use of public transport for the Silver/Gold expeditions could make these events considerably cheaper than the day hikes that we had previously been hoping to run.

Fort St now has the biggest participation in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program of all public schools in NSW, and are the third biggest Award Centre in NSW after Scots and Kings. In 2019, 90 Fort St students completed their Bronze award, 29 people finished Silver and the Gold award was completed by Fortians Nicholas Mok, Danny Mai and Jamie Kwon.

So far this year, 139 year 9 students have logged at least one hour on their Bronze award, and the year group as a whole has logged over 35% of the total hours required for all year 9 students to achieve their Bronze awards. 76 year 10 students have registered for their Silver award. 27 year 11 and 6 year 12 students are active participants in the Gold award program. We have awarded 26 Silver and 66 Bronze awards to date in 2020 and are immensely proud of Dhuvaraha Baheerathan, Edmund Derwent, Emily Grimes, Aidan Limnios and Carmen Wen who have completed their Gold awards at Fort St in 2020.

It has been challenging for a lot of students to continue participating in their Award as some normal activities are still shut, and there are continued restrictions on some sports and arts groups. But it’s been wonderful to see how adaptable many Fortians are, and how you have been able to come up with new interesting activities to meet your goals.

We are looking forward to seeing lots of Fortians achieve their Duke of Ed awards in term 4!

Ms Jerrems
Fort St Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Coordinator