Duke of Edinburgh's International Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is an opportunity that is available to all students. Doing the award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others; it pushes young people to their personal limits and recognises their achievements. The Award is comprised of three levels and four sections – Skills, Voluntary Service, Physical Recreation and Adventurous Journey. At Gold level, participants also complete a Residential Project.

Participation in the Award Programme helps young adults to develop personal qualities of commitment, self-awareness, initiative, self-confidence, determination and motivation and to develop the essential skills of leadership, teamwork, decision making, risk management, organisation and communication.

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their Awards:

Bronze Award: Adelle Ballantyne 10MK
Award Completed 8 September 2020

Adelle says: “I started the award to experience new things, to make friends and have fun! To complete the award, I participated in archery for physical recreation, volunteered at Just Zilch shop for service and did the expedition at Sunrise hut. The tramping experience to Sunrise hut was definitely my favourite part of the award. It was a great experience and I made friends and strengthened bonds with friends on the hike”.

Bronze Award: Isabel Lu 11HR
Award Completed 21 October 2020

Isabel says: “To complete the award I helped at Youth Space for service, by sorting the books, making cookies and helping set up events. Being able to do this with friends was what made it really fun. For the skill I did drawing. I would learn sketching with my uncle every week. This was slightly disrupted when COVID-19 came around, so completing my drawing lessons had breaks in between. However, I could still see my drawing skills improve heaps, and I have finished, feeling proud of what I have achieved. For the physical recreation, I played badminton with my friends for the school badminton programme every week. This was really fun and I will probably keep playing badminton throughout my high school years too. For the adventurous journey, I went on several tramps; preparation and training, a practice journey, and a qualifying journey. This was a whole new experience for me.” 

Bronze Award: Charlotte McKinnon 11PE
Award Completed 31 August 2020

Charlotte says: “I heard about this award through the school notices, and have also heard about this award through some of my friends in higher year levels at school who have really enjoyed it. I thought it would best suit me, which has benefited me. For my service I volunteered at the Manor Palmerston North rest home and elderly care units which involved going around the rooms and having conversations which put smiles on the patients faces. For my skill I joined with the PNGHS umpiring squad which required me to go to weekly meetings on Tuesdays during lunch and once I was confident enough I began umpiring on Saturdays at the secondary school netball Manawatu competition. For my physical recreation I competed in the secondary school netball competition every Saturday playing for a girls high school team. For my adventurous journeys all three of the expeditions I have done have been hikes where we will go on a 5-8 hour hike (depending on the weather) then will set up a tent and stay the night in the bush and hike back the next day. I have completed these tramps with the Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre instructors and a group or girls who are also doing the award. The highlight of the award was branching out of my comfort zone, getting to meet new people and become a better person by trying new experiences and taking up more opportunities.”

Bronze Award: Ashton Apperley 10YG
Award Completed 23 September 2020

Ashton says: “I started the award because I wanted to be committed to finishing something and have a sense of accomplishment. For my service I helped at the library, for my physical recreation I did swimming, for my adventurous journeys I went tramping at Makahika Outdoor Pursuits Centre."

Silver Award: Madeline Bendall 12LE
Award Completed 14 October 2020

Madeline says” “I decided to do the award not only because it looks good on applications, but because it allowed me to try new things and push myself. I have learnt so much from this award, and made many new friends and memories. For my service I volunteered at a rest home, where I got to speak and play games with elderly residents. Spending time with them was rewarding, as I helped them to feel valued when they were quite often lonely. It was also interesting to listen to their life stories, and learn about how they lived through history. They were children in the second world war, and one woman I spoke to was a nurse during the polio epidemic. For my skill I wrote a novel, which gave me the opportunity to express myself creatively, and convey ideas in an interesting way. An important part of any story is the characters and setting; so I enjoyed developing both of these and making them come to life. For my physical recreation I joined a swimming club, where I learnt how to swim different strokes, and improve in my technique. The experience was challenging but rewarding, as I made lots of progress, met new people, and even competed in a competition. For my adventurous journey I went tramping with different groups of people, who I hadn’t met before. I not only learnt navigational and tramping skills, but leadership skills as well. It was a fun and eye opening experience to meet new people and work with them to achieve new things such as setting up a hut radio and chopping firewood. The highlight of the award for me was the tramping. I got to meet new people and learnt so much from them. It challenged me, having to live off what I could carry and do so much walking, but being able to adapt to a different lifestyle was very cool”.

Gold Award: Madeleine Williams 13DJ
Award Completed 28 October 2020

Maddie says: “I decided to do this award as it gave me the opportunity to extend myself in ways that I wouldn’t in everyday life and also meet and interact with a variety of new people. For my service I did netball umpiring, grocery shopping for the elderly during COVID lockdown and tutoring. For my physical recreation I played tennis. For my skill I did piano lessons and for my adventurous journey, I did an expedition to the Abel Tasman National Park. For my residential I participated in Spirit of New Zealand. The highlight of the award for me was my Gold Qualifying Adventurous Journey, for which we tramped part of the Abel Tasman Inland Route and all of the Abel Tasman Coastal Route with a group of friends. I completed this tramp during the summer, which meant that we went swimming at nearly every hut we spent the night in - what luxury! I also had a fabulous time taking part in the Spirit of New Zealand in the same summer, where we sailed from Nelson to Picton. Through this program, I met some fantastic people and made some life friends, but also pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, overcoming my fear of heights by climbing to the top of the ship’s mast!”

Gold Award: Annabel Chilcott 13HL
Award Completed 29 October 2020

Annabel says “I decided to do the award because most of my friends were doing it and encouraged me to give it a go. For my service I volunteered at Wholegrain Organics - an after school programme for students of Palmerston North schools to help prepare meals. For my physical recreation I played squash and for my final qualifying journey I went down south to Abel Tasman National Park. The highlight of the award would have to be the numerous tramps and adventurous journeys I was lucky enough to go on with my friends, where we were able to push and motivate each other along the journeys as well as learning and developing key skills”