Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the award requires dedication, commitment and initiative. This is a fine achievement. Well done!

Bronze: Siona Sircar 11DSM, Charlotte Leleni 11DSM, Angela Du 10LWA

Silver: Libby Hawkins 12ABL, Anika Moleta 12VTA

Gold: Emi O’Connor

Some reflections from students - read below:

Bronze: Angela Du

Service: I selected Maths tutoring at PNGHS as my service category. Each week, my student and I met for an hour-long tutoring session. She would bring worksheets from her teacher, and together we worked through them, discussing and explaining the processes involved. I found great satisfaction in tutoring mathematics and felt fulfilled when my student benefited from my guidance.

Skills (Major): For my skills category, I chose practising viola. I have been learning the viola for a year and a half and found Duke of ED to be a valuable tool in disciplining myself to practise regularly for music exams. On average, I dedicated four hours per week to practising. I enjoy playing the viola and am eager to continue my musical journey.

Physical Recreation: I committed to running twice a week for 30 minutes per session. Since my home is near Riverdale School, I often ran there and enjoyed witnessing beautiful sunsets during my workouts. Running brings me happiness and a sense of accomplishment as I persist in this activity.

Adventurous Journey: For my adventurous journey, all three of my tramping journeys were organised by OTNZ. I found tramping to be the most challenging of all the categories, as it tested me physically, mentally, and socially. These journeys taught me essential survival techniques, navigation skills with map and compass, and the importance of teamwork.

Bronze: Siona Sircar

Service: I chose to volunteer at the Palmerston North Cancer Society office for my service hours. Every Wednesday after school, I would go and help with various tasks. These included getting together resources or simply helping out with office work. Cancer Society has two main events; Relay for Life and Daffodil Day. Many of my volunteering hours were around these times, with plenty to be done. I enjoyed learning new skills in the process of doing these tasks and learning more about the planning and work that goes into these big events. This experience was the highlight of my award. 

Physical Recreation: I played netball for the physical recreation part of this award. This involved both the games and practices. During the games, I would try new positions that I wouldn’t have otherwise had a go at. I learnt plenty during this time, and worked on these skills during practice. Netball is a team sport, so I collaborated with the other students on my team and we worked together to help each other improve in our individual positions. 

Skills: The skills category was my major, and for that I practised piano. At the time, I was preparing for my piano exam in November. This required me to learn new pieces and scales which I worked on during that time. I practised for around 3-4 hours a week and even after completing the hours I have continued to practise regularly. The skills that I learnt have equipped me to learn more difficult things in music and I look forward to learning more. 

Adventurous Journey: I completed my practice journey with Afoot, which was to Herepai Hut, and did the qualifying journey with OTNZ which was to Stanfeild Hut. I learnt plenty of essential survival skills during the tramps which included map reading and compass navigation, and about packing essential items through both experiences. The planning and collaboration required for both was also a learning experience and I met plenty of new people on both tramps that I worked together with. It was a very rewarding experience and it is something that I am proud to have completed. 

Bronze: Charlotte Leleni

Service: For my service I chose to volunteer at a local pre-school. Every Thursday after school I would go into the pre-school and help out the staff with various tasks like cleaning, setting up activities for the children or packing stuff away. Another thing I helped with was keeping the children entertained by playing with them. This was an awesome experience! It was so cool to see the kids learning from me, and vice versa. It was also eye-opening to see how much hard work preschool teachers do and the amount of patience they have.

Physical Recreation (Major): For this part of the award, I chose ballet because I was already practising it outside of school. My goal was to improve my technique, flexibility, and learn new skills. I accomplished this by the end of my time practising ballet and I am continuing to work on it. Choosing ballet as a skill was very enjoyable for me because I have always loved dance and it is a graceful way to keep my body fit.

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Silver: Anika Moleta

Adventurous Journey: For my adventurous journey I completed my preparation near Levin where I spent 2 days and 1 night in the bush completing tramps and off trail navigation. For my practice and qualifier journey I went on Spirit of Adventure, voyage 880 aboard the Spirit of New Zealand. This was an amazing experience where I learnt to sail a top rigger, learnt about ocean conservation, went snorkelling, rafting and hiked part of the Te Araroa Trail. I made friends for life, saw beautiful wildlife and explored the gorgeous Marlborough sounds. From scrubbing the decks to climbing the mast, I loved this whole experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity.

Physical Recreation: For my physical recreation I completed swimming training for a minimum of 1 hour a week. During this time I competed at multiple national swimming competitions and improved my times. As I enjoy swimming this was an enjoyable physical recreation.

Service: For my service I did both water polo reffing and coaching at Manawatu water polo with the intermediate age group in terms 1 and 2, before helping out at KiwiWest aquatics for term 3. I enjoyed learning how to coach in both these services.

Skill: For my skill I decided I wanted to learn how to sew a garment as well as learn some basic skills such as hemming that will be useful. I sewed a tiered gathered skirt learning during the process how to straight stitch, overlock, gather, sew an underlayer, make an elastic waistband with a drawstring and much more.

Highlight: I really enjoyed completing my Silver Duke of Edinburgh award over the past year. I have had a lot of fun, learnt lots of new skills, given back to my community, met so many amazing people and had experiences to last me a lifetime. My favourite part of the award was definitely Spirit of Adventure aboard Spirit of New Zealand Te Waka Herenga Tangata o Aotearoa. On the ship I made lifelong friends and shared unforgettable experiences. I went out of my comfort zone and took every opportunity along the way. I learnt through the rough seas on our 36 hours straight sail down the coast to the beautiful Marlborough Sounds that the hard times make the good times better. I learnt to challenge myself, climbing to the flag on the top mast, steering a small sail ship, learning knots, navigation and how to tack a sailing ship. It was an incredible 10 days and I am grateful to have had this opportunity.

Silver: Libby Hawkins

After completing my bronze I was really excited to begin my silver. I continued to improve my knitting as my skill and have now managed to knit a beanie. For my voluntary service I spent time each week at the Summerhill Rest Home. I interacted with the residents chatting and sometimes playing cards with them. I really enjoyed listening to their stories and seeing their smiles when I walked in. I set out to run 10km for my physical recreation. I completed a 10km event in the Hawkes Bay and was really proud of my time and what I was able to achieve. Duke of Edinbrugh gave me the motivation to push myself through running and keep up my physical fitness.  The adventurous journey was one of my favourite parts of the award. I really enjoy tramping in different parts of the Ruahine and Tararua ranges. I have learnt lots of useful skills, enjoyed the outdoors and had an amazing time with my friends. Tramping is definitely the highlight of the award for me. Completing the Silver Duke of Edinburgh has given me opportunities to grow and learn more about myself. 

Gold: Emi O’Connor

Completing the Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award has always been a goal of mine, ever since I began the award in year 10. Taking part in the award has equipped me with valuable skills and unforgettable experiences. Over the course of the 52 weeks, I had worked on enhancing my running abilities through long-distance running, challenged myself to learn to cook a wide range of delicious dishes, and volunteered at the SPCA as a weekend volunteer. I had also participated in the Rotary Science and Technology Forum for my Gold Residential project, where I explored a wide range of  interesting science and technology topics at the University of Auckland, AUT and Massey University campuses, and made lasting friendships with so many amazing peers. The adventurous journeys were also a key highlight  of the award, where this opportunity had enabled me to grow out of my comfort zone and explore the New Zealand bush, forge friendships, and further enhance my skills such as navigation.I am very grateful for all the support I have received from so many people and the amazing opportunities and memories that I have made throughout the 3 year journey!