Another very busy year for our hugely popular Duke of Edinburgh programme included our first kayak trip on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire (along with the worst assessment weather for twenty years!) and the first borough-wide Duke of Edinburgh Presentation Evening to be hosted by the school on the John Heffernan stage at the end of the spring term. Thirty four pupils from Year 9 proudly took to the stage to accept their well-earned Bronze Awards. Their journey to that point included a myriad of challenges, including cross country runs and airfix modeling to navigation training in Black Park and the ‘Hell Fire Hike’. The first expedition training weekend for walkers was held in Ashdown Forest. Later on in the year, two walking assessments were held on the Isle of Purbeck. By that time, the so called ‘drought’ from last summer had broken and we were treated to over twelve hours of persistent heavy rainfall on each assessment! The boys’ adventurous nature was again in evidence again as they waded through knee deep mud to get to a site which had no ground free of standing water and where they had to cook in the corner of the toilet block for shelter! Several boys opted to train for the kayak assessment, carrying out their training at Thames Young Mariners in Ham. A lake-based skills session was followed by a paddle to Hampton Court Palace and the Beaulieu River adventure. The boys’ efforts, teamwork and hard work were rewarded at the Borough Duke of Edinburgh Presentation Evening, which the school hosted in March. Guests and dignitaries from many of Hounslow’s schools were treated to an evening of stories, musical entertainment and raucous applause from a very appreciative audience.