Early in September, we will advertise for new participants through the weekly student notices. We will then hold a couple of briefing sessions to explain what the award is all about then we will enrol new participants onto the scheme. The Gold Award is split into 5 sections; Volunteering, Skill, Physical, Expedition and Residential (see Award Sections for further details). We try and get our students to complete the residential, expedition and at least one other section in their lower sixth year. The other sections are either completed in the upper sixth or after they have left. You have until you are 25 years of age to complete a Gold, so there is no pressure! Weekly Training Sessions We meet after college on a Tuesday for about 1 hour 10 minutes, primarily to cover the training for the expedition which we try and complete in July of your first year with us. These Tuesday sessions are vital training whether you have done your silver expedition or whether you are direct Gold and we do insist on regular attendance. We try and keep the sessions practical, but there will be some occasions when navigation, safety procedures etc are covered theoretically. Training/Practice weekends We do insist on 3 residential training weekends in the lower sixth as preparation for the final expedition. These normally take place in spring/early summer. Dates for these weekends are fixed right at the beginning so participants have plenty of notice. All three will involve camping, sometimes in remote/wild locations. Practice weekends normally take place in the Lake District. |
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