Over Friday 17 and Saturday 18 March several students participated in a training weekend, working towards the knowledge and skills needed to enable them to complete their Bronze and Silver DofE expeditions. 

There was lots of practical training on the Friday evening: erecting tents, learning how to use trangias and jetboils safely, cooking a hot meal, first aid and, most importantly, navigation and compass bearings. 

On Saturday, each Team went on a 2-3 hour hike in the area local to the Academy, shadowed by their Team Supervisor, to test their navigation skills. They had to use their map and a route card to follow their route back to the Academy, taking turns to navigate and randomly being asked to identify where they were and what compass bearing an object may be, to put their skills to the test. Much fun was had along the way, including a chance encounter with a staff member enjoying their student-free weekend, being ‘stalked’ by an open-top double-decker bus in the Norfolk countryside, stopping to make a hot drink/snack with a stove whilst hiking, watching hares chase each other across a field, boots being lost in thick, sticky mud and developing into a Team able to work together. 

The weekend was a huge success, with many skills learned or enhanced and Team relationships developed. The Silver Teams are now looking forward to their Practice Expeditions over the Easter holidays, in unfamiliar surroundings, being fully self-sufficient and being active in the Suffolk countryside for a minimum of 7 hours a day, for 3 days and 2 nights. Good Luck!!!