Year 9 adventurers test their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh ‘Expedition’ skills in Wymondley Wood

On May the 13th and 14th, our Year 9 Cohort of “The Duke of Edinburgh” adventurers descended onto Wymondley Wood to participate in the ‘Expedition’ aspect of their DofE course. This is just one of the four sections of their training that students have had to complete for their Bronze DofE Award.

Students were tasked with completing a 16km trek on both Saturday and Sunday, around the countryside of Hertfordshire. The students had to navigate using a map and compass to successfully negotiate their routes, relying only on each other and their team. Not only this – but they had to carry all of the equipment they would require to be self-sufficient. This included tents for camping, cooking equipment and ingredients to enable them to cook their own meals.

Luckily, despite the rest of the week being gloomy, the weather held on Saturday, and Sunday actually with some sunshine! Overall the teams did fantastically, with all of our students working together and enjoying the adventure!

Below are quotes from a couple of our students who participated in the award:

Molly P (9 Austin): “In my DofE experience, I had a lot of fun. DofE was very hard, but was an adventure. You learn to rely on the people around you and in your group, as teamwork is a large part of completing the expedition. For example, you need to evenly share the weight you have to carry in your bags, set up your tent, plan and navigate your own routes and plan and cook your meals. It was not all hard work though – you also have time to relax and spend time with other groups. In the evening after setting up, we all sat around playing games and later on, everyone sat around the campfire roasting marshmallows. The walking part of the expedition was definitely hard, especially on day 2 when you just want to go home. But if you push through, it’s definitely all worth it in the end, and I am so glad I completed it.”

Arabella A (9 Hadid) “My experience of DofE was fun. The walk was enjoyable and we did things like play in parks along the way and walked through the woods. Although the bags were heavy, and people’s feet were hurting, it was still a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The weather was nice and there was great scenery along our route. We saw other groups along the way and talked with them as we continued walking. The overall experience was one I won’t forget and I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.”

Thank you to all of the staff who volunteered their entire weekend to support the event, and a massive well done to all participants who demonstrated resilience, teamwork and determination throughout. The students and staff have put in a great deal of work leading up to this achievement over the past year, and we are incredibly proud of everyone who was involved.

T Hurley and D Stevens (DofE Managers)

We took our Food GCSE students on a journey through some of London’s most popular food destinations with a chance to learn about the history and culture of the area. It was a school trip they will never forget!

Last week, we took our Year 10 GCSE students on an exciting school trip on a food tour to London. We took them on a journey through some of London’s most popular food destinations with a chance to learn about the history and culture of the area. It was a school trip they will never forget!

We started off at Spitalfields Market which is one of London’s oldest and most famous food markets founded in 1197. Our students learnt about the history of the market and how it all started from a hospital originally! The tour took students from Spitalfields Market to Banglatown on to Brick Lane where they learnt about the culture and history of this interesting area. They all had the opportunity to taste a variety of different food from a Bangladeshi Deli. They tried Samosa, Pakora, Chicken Tikka Rolls and Onion Bhajis. Next we headed to Truman’s Brewery and discovered it was once home to London’s largest brewery which started in 1669. It is now East London’s choice of destination for the public and businesses and the students could see how it has changed so much. After building up an appetite we walked to a beautiful chocolate shop called Dark Sugars where we heard the story of its owner, an African lady called Nyanga who began her business in Spitalfields Market with a small amount of truffles. The word spread amongst the local residents and market visitors that an African woman was bringing a taste of Africa in the form of chocolates. After many successful years, Nyanga packed up her truffles and spent three years researching cocoa on her family’s farm. She returned bringing her experience  from Ghana to the streets of East London. The students were told the story from cocoa bean to their chocolate bags and how chocolates are made. They were fascinated! We were able to choose a variety of chocolates to sample and a rather large hot chocolate!

During our tour we were amazed and in awe of the street art painted by some very talented artists and spotted broccoli on the walls outside of shops and on walls. We learnt the history of the ‘Broccoli Man’ who has an art shop in London selling broccoli in picture frames! It all started when the ‘Broccoli Man’ once had an idea to paint whole broccoli and display them on the streets of London which became so popular amongst Chinese tourists that he was asked to create them as pictures. This has now spread worldwide and he is selling ‘broccoli art’ all over the world!

The next stop of the tour the students had the opportunity to visit ‘Beigel Bake’ which provided the historic tastes and traditions of the Jewish East End, mixed with the flavours of an ever evolving multi-cultural community. We tried Salt Beef Bagels which were enjoyed by everyone. ‘Beigel Bake’ is a popular choice by Prince William and Princess Kate who visit there often and we were very happy to be sharing this experience too. We wondered why ‘Beigel’ was spelt differently. We learnt that ‘Beigels’ are made the traditional way being boiled first to get that chewy texture, modern bagels are not always boiled.

Amongst many other tastes and delights of more food vendors, we finished off with a Bubble Tea at a Taiwan café which we think was the perfect end to a fabulous tour.

The Talk Eat Walk Eat tour was a magnificent way for students to explore the London food scene and learn about the city’s history and multi culture at the same time. The students tasted some of London’s most delicious food while gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation for the people and places that make London such an exciting place.