Today, we invited Ms Banks, Whenua Iti Outdoors General Manager Mark Bruce-Miller and Duke of Ed Co-ordinator Emma Gray along to present our most recent Gold Award winner, Stella Bloomfield, with her certificate and pin.
Stella has spent the last 12 months working on gaining her Gold Award and one of the highlights of her award for her was trips into the Abel Tasman National Park and Kahurangi National Park with Whenua Iti Outdoors. 鈥淭he tutors were really encouraging and had some great stories of their own adventures in the outdoors鈥� says Stella. 鈥淭hey helped me grow my skills and my confidence. I think a significant part of why chose to take Outdoor Education at school this year was built on those foundational experiences. I鈥檓 so pleased I challenged myself. I highly recommend Whenua Iti courses鈥�.
As part of the award rules, Stella also had to log an hour each week towards her physical, skill and volunteer goals. Of the nearly 4500 students nationally who completed an award in the last year, only a few hundred attain a Gold Award. Stella will be formally presented with her award at a Gold Ceremony in Wellington later this year.
We congratulate all the students currently enrolled to complete their Duke of Edinburgh Award for their hard work in both completing their activities and logging their progress. It requires a significant commitment of both time and effort. Another recent Gold Award winner is former student Nelson McComb and we have six other students currently working towards their Gold Award. A special shoutout to Thora Moffatt who recently gained her Silver Award.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award challenges students to achieve in four different areas: Volunteering, physical activity, skills development and adventurous journeys. A bronze award takes a minimum of six months to complete, while the Silver and Gold take a minimum of 12 months each to complete. Completing an award requires dedicating a minimum of three hours every week and so those who gain their qualification have shown both resilience and maturity.
We have students volunteering at hospice stores, recycle centres, breakfast clubs, boxing clubs, youth groups, conservation groups, cadet groups and martial arts clubs. Students are learning new skills such as cooking, driving, musical instruments, debating and crochet. Students also develop their physical skills through sports such as hockey, climbing, tramping, running, cycling and surfing. The fourth and final area of development is an adventurous journey over several days and nights. 国产麻豆精品 and Whenua Iti Outdoors work closely together to support students on their practice and qualifying journey weeks.
Students who completed a level this year are:
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Gold Award: Stella Bloomfield
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Silver Award: Thora Moffatt
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Bronze Award: Claudius Ferreira, Maia McKeever and Amber McKnight
The following students are currently working towards their awards:
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Gold: Grant Bell, Morgan Barak, Rosie Cameron, Jack Simmons, Elijah Scowcroft, Isla Murray
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Silver: Sam Donovan, Tom Burns, Bella Topp, Luke Halcrow, Claudius Ferreira, Gabriel Wilde, Gabby Gavin, Lena Heeger, Luca Syme, Malachi Ng, Rahil Prasad, Tara McLarin,
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Bronze: Ellie Bone, Freya Smith, Macey Richards, Reuben D鈥橦erville, Juniper Nevin, Maddie Hay, Skye Sutton, Caitlin Gerritsen, Maddy Shaw and Lilybelle Trowbridge.
We are also about to start another new Bronze wave where students can start their Award together. If you are interested, please get in touch with Ms Gaye Bloomfield.
By Gaye Bloomfield