Abbotsholme School celebrated a remarkable day in October when ten former Abbotsholme pupils were invited to London to receive their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award presented by Prince Philip himself.
In a school of around 300 pupils it is an outstanding achievement for ten pupils all to be awarded their Gold award on one day. The Duke of Edinburgh spoke to the pupils for 12 minutes, which according to our award guardian was longer than usual.
Some of the pupils left the school in the summer of 2012, after completing their A levels, whilst others have been inspired to continue and complete, even after leaving school.
Aden Mshana who left the school in 2009 says, “I kept going with the D of E after school because I didn't see it as an achievement confined to my school days. It was something I could carry with me for life and be proud of, plus I thought the badge was really cool. The training, the expeditions and even the hard times helped to shape me and teach me what really matters in life. The skills I gained still serve me now and the lads and I still laugh about it now when we meet up. D of E was one the biggest highlights of my school days and I'm going to make my kids do it too.”
Aden was unable to attend the ceremony today as he is currently doing an internship in the Sierra Leone Country Office for the UN organisation for Food and Agriculture (FAO).
Rupert Sanderson, who left Abbotsholme this year, travelled with his family to attend the ceremony in St James’ Palace, said “It was a great sense of satisfaction and achievement being congratulated by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip himself. Abbotsholme was by far the best represented school which showed that DofE is a big part of Abbotsholme life and how you can easily achieve it through all of the activities that school provide for you.”
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award or the ‘D of E’ as it is now known, is an intrinsic part of the curriculum at Abbotsholme School, where all pupils start the Bronze Award in Year 9 and work up to the Gold Award whilst in the Sixth Form.