Expeditions Section
Full information on the Award can best be found on the Award web site however the following describes how expeditions run at the College. After an initial meeting in the Autumn term students at each level form into expedition groups. As far as possible we like them to stay in those groups for classroom training, weekend practices and the actual qualifying venture. These expedition groups are between 5 and 7 and may be mixed or single sex. The actual tent groups are single sex of 2 to 4 students.
Classroom
training starts around a term before any weekend practices and covers
things like route planning, basic first aid, equipment, food and menus.
This is followed by sufficient weekend practices to prepare them for the
level being undertaken – ranging from a 1-night practice at Bronze to
two single-night and a 2-night practice at Gold. During these practice
expeditions students will be taught camp craft and navigation skills.
Only if we are satisfied that the group is competent will we allow them
to proceed to the qualifying venture. In the case of Gold candidates
they also have to satisfy an external pre-assessment check.
At
all levels staff will be camping with students during practice ventures
and usually also on the qualifying ventures at Bronze level. We tend to
use the North York Moors at Bronze level whereas at Gold we usually
train in the Dales and encourage students to aim for a qualifying
venture in Scotland. We would not normally have staff camping with the
students on Gold qualifying ventures though we always see them at the
camps and if they are in a remote area we will be relatively close.
The Award web site and our own give example kit lists and we are able to provide most specialist items from our well equipped stores so please do not panic about things like tents, sleeping bags and rucksacks. However we do require students to have their own walking boots – they do not need to be expensive but should be broken in and provide some degree of ankle support – trainers are not adequate. It is also worth having proper walking socks – particularly on the longer Gold expeditions students will appreciate the extra cushioning these afford. Most other items of clothing can be improvised e.g. close fitting track suits are ideal walking trousers.
There are charges to cover transport and food for expeditions. Typically these will be around £30 for a 1-night weekend expedition, perhaps £60-£70 for a 2-night expedition in the Lake District and approximately £180-£200 for a 3-night expedition to Scotland requiring 2 nights in a hostel at either end.