Over the period 1-2 & 6-7 October...

...seven young people from Middleton Grange School attended the Duke of Edinburgh International Award (DOEIA), Adventurous Journey as part of their Award.

The students tramped 11km in the Banks Peninsula area as a practice activity and then tramped a further 25km in the Lees Valley, Oxford area. The participants covered flat open country, tussock covered hills and negotiated approximately 100 river crossings as a team and individually over the two days tramping in Oxford. The participants stayed in two-man tents and cooked all meals on gas cookers.

The facilitator for this activity was the Joshua Foundation. They have been serving Middleton Grange for the past 10 years, and have facilitated students to achieve the Bronze, Silver & Gold Awards.

The participants learnt about campcraft, fieldcraft, cooking on a gas cooker, selection of camp sites, medical knowledge, navigation and leadership skills.

During the Oxford activity individuals were placed into teams and in pairs they were required to navigate the team through reading the map and were able to provide six figure grid references on arrival. They were also tasked with a mock emergency evacuation which tested everybody' strength and stamina.

Chris Allan of the Joshua Foundation was very impressed with the students maturity and willingness to look after one another when the going got tough. He emphasises that Leadership is about service and we all need to look for opportunities to support and serve others.

Any students wanting to challenge themselves in 2022 & 2023 here is your opportunity, reach out to Chris Allan joshuafoundationnz@gmail.com

Below are some of the comments from Students and parents:

Hi Chris,

We just wanted to say a big thank you for the last two tramps Annabelle has just been on. She had a great time, and I think it has got her keen for tramping.

We were very impressed with how well organised and run they were. Thankyou for all your hard work with these - you did a brilliant job.

God Bless

Cam and Jo Gracey

Dear Chris,

Thank you so very much for the wonderful tramps you ran this past week. Olivia enjoyed the challenge and learnt some great skills. She will have great memories. Thanks also for your great life tips regarding leadership.

The Coopers

Thank you our daughter has come home exhausted, but full of amazing stories, you would think that she had climbed Mt Everest.

Parent