Thirteen girls were presented with their Gold awards at Buckingham Palace this year, a tribute to the outstanding commitment of husband and wife team Shirley and Terry Palliser, who run the scheme at Kingsley.

Students currently working for their gold award have undertaken training and practice camps in Staffordshire and Snowdonia. Both camps were navigationally challenging and weather conditions poor, but the team, as always, came through the cold and mud with flying colours. Kristin Wright, Jo Wing, Olivia Marson, Rhiannon Marshall and Claire Jones have enjoyed some interesting residential experiences and have completed the other requirements of the award apart from the final expedition, which will take place this summer in the Lake District.

gold award training

We have a record number of candidates for the silver award this year. Training took place in Derbyshire during a very cold March, but fortunately the girls were able to stay in the relative comfort of a youth hostel. Two week-long practice and assessment camping expeditions in Exmoor will take place in July.

the long and winding road ...

Bronze practice camps took place in South Warwickshire on a private camp site, where girls were introduced to maps and compasses; preparing food on camp cookers; and the art of what to leave out of a rucksack! Our school assessor Mr John Leach will oversee the group during their final assessment in the Wye Valley.

Click here to see more pictures on our photo gallery: http://www.kingsleygallery.co.uk/index_files/dofe08.htm