Duke of Edinburgh's Award Evening

Tonight we held the first of the annual Plymouth College presentation evenings for D of E Badges and Certifcates. We had a great time with muscial performances from Sarah Jeffrey (Silver), Sophie Brown (Gold) and Chris Kim (Gold).

Alan Dodd from the SW Region of the award scheme attended to present the students with their certificates.

Mr G Starks (Head of Outdoor Education)

Boarders Biking

On Sunday afternoon, 8 boarders and 2 staff braved the rain and headed out onto the Plym Valley Trail

Silver D of E Cycling

The Silver D of E Cycling group headed out onto Dartmoor on Friday into the rain and wind for 3 days of cycle touring. The team did well battling hail, wind and rain for another 3 days before finally finishing on Sunday wet but quite happy.

Mr G Starks (Head of Outdoor Education)

Bronze D of E

4 teams headed out on Friday 20th April for their practice expedition taking in the coast between Beesands and East Prawle. Two teams camped at Beesands and two at East Prawl. The photo of the tents overlooking the sea was taken at 6:45 when the sheep were up, but team 4 wasn't! However, they did leave camp on time and all teams enjoyed a challenging second days walk with sunshine and hail storms. All teams went round start point where the team photos above were taken. Really well done teams ... next stop Exmoor

Dr Norris (Head of Bronze)

Staff have been busy over the Easter Holidays

Although away from the school, the Outdoor Education team have had a busy Easter.

Mr Starks has been Scuba Diving and Sailing. Mr Brice has been Mountain Biking, Coasteering and Walking in the Peak District. Mr Jackson has been out Rock Climbing around Devon and Cornwall and has onsighted an E2 Rock Climb.

However the special mention to Dr Norris who won the Worcester Marathon. As he is supervising the D of E Bronze Practice this weekend, the students had better be feeling fit if they are going to keep up.

We have a busy term ahead with lots of D of E, Ten Tors, After School clubs and Activities Week all taking place.

Gold D of E Practice Expedition

On Thursday afternoon 4 teams and a number of staff headed out onto Dartmoor into the wet for a practice D of E Expedition. Fortunately the rain lasted only until the end of Thursday. The sun shone on Friday and Saturday, both were absolutely stunning days and a reminder of why I chose to work in this part of the UK. All 4 groups got some mileage under their belt and although one campsite got attacked by a hungry badger, all had a good time.

We have now broken up for Easter so no more updates until we return week beginning 16th April. Have a good break.

Mr G Starks (Head of Outdoor Education)

Windy at Sheep's Tor

On our weekly Wednesday climbing trip we headed to Sheeps Tor where the group split in two, one group spent the session with Mr Brice. In this group there was Ieuan, George, Alister and Charlie. They set up tope ropes and leArnt how to belay from the top of a climb. The other group went with Mr Starks, in this group was Elliot and I (Alex), we learnt how to lead climb using traditional gear. everybody had a great time dispite the cold and I look forward to another trad climbing session.
Alex Moore (Year 11)