Highlight of the Week

Explorer Biologist Niall McCann tells of his adventures at DofE Presentation Evening

This week we hosted our third Duke of Edinburgh's Award Presentation Evening, celebrating three years of DofE as a Directly Licenced Centre. During the evening we were able to present a record number of certificates, especially at Gold level with ten students completing all sections of the Gold Award during the 2015-16 season out of a total of 17 who completed the Expedition Section.

The Presentation Evening is an opportunity to celebrate all things DofE, including music and presentations. It is also a time to think about the next level and be inspired to greater things.

We were delighted to welcome Niall McCann as our guest speaker. Niall, who completed his PhD in Biology at Cardiff University, inspired us to "fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run" (Rudyard Kipling, If) with his tales of adventure and exploration. Many of the students have since commented on their rekindled enthusiasm for biology and conservation, Niall's passion, having heard how he has been able to influence governments to take measures to protect endangered species and their habitats.

The uptake for DofE continues to be very high with over 90% of Year 10, 70% of Year 11 and 30% of Year 12 taking the opportunity to participate in The Award this year.