It is a unique time in modern history. The challenges placed upon us by COVID-19 are extensive and this has impacted all areas of our life. Despite these challenges the Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award has continued to run. We have had a number of girls make significant progress and for some, even complete their awards. I am delighted to share with you, some stories of what the girls are accomplishing.

In the brief period of freedom in the July school holidays, two groups of Year 9 students completed their adventurous journeys. 

Emma Gregory , Caitlin Wang, Charlotte Rowe, Ellen Vote and Matisse Stafford completed a hike on the Warburton Rail Trail in the Yarra Ranges. This hike saw the girls complete a massive 40km hike on day one followed by camping and a shorter hike on the second day.

Emma wrote a fabulous reflection on the trip. She noted that at the end of their first day, “We were really happy to make it to here so we raced across the bridge (which we immediately regretted when we realised we still had a bit to walk and our legs were like jelly). Not long after, we came down a small hill and got to the end of the trail. When we got to my farm, we set up our tents. Most of us could barely walk because our legs were so stiff so this took a while. After setting up, we had some pasta for dinner, played some games and went to sleep”. 

Jemima Wilcox, Matilda Corsham and Ava Colosimo hiked for four days in the Ottways Rain Forest. The girls had a fabulous experience, despite a lot of rain, journeying over 50km in difficult terrain.

Jemima reflected on their journey, with some of the highlights, “We expertly set up our tent and added not only all our mats and sleeping bags to it, but also fairy lights! And although fairy lights may seem like a silly idea, they created a great source of light for our late-night talks as well as making a tent not purely a living space, but our home. The last part of this walk was the hardest as we were walking on the sand and there was no clear destination in sight and it seemed to go on forever. We finally bumped into a local couple with their three dogs. We almost cried with excitement to have some social contact. They asked us about our journey and we were so happy that they actually cared! On the last 200-meter stretch, we gave up on productive walking with Matilda falling face first twice in 50 meters, and Jemima doing a fabulously executed twisting fall. Nevertheless, we made it!” 

Both groups had to plan their journey, come up with the route, packing list and menu plan. It is a great credit to the girls that they undertook this of their own accord and did such a fabulous job in completing their journey.

I would also like to share some of the successes the girls are having in their Service Component. Sarah Marriott has recently completed her Silver Award, for her service. She made paper flowers to decorate a local nursing home. Sarah shared with us, “For my Silver Duke of Edinburgh Community Service component, I had planned to return to the Stonnington Toy Library. However, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the library closed. Instead, I looked for something I could do at home but still help the community. I chose to make paper flowers and write cards to deliver to my local aged care home (BlueCross Darnlee). The goal of the flowers was to lift residents’ spirits during the April lockdown period and bring a bit of happiness into the home. I made these flowers out of coloured crepe paper, orchard stakes, cotton wool, string and sticky tape. I made 30 flowers out of a range of colours accompanied by hand written notes. These flowers were a hobby that I learnt from my Grandma a few years ago. Each flower and card combination took approximately an hour. The two large bunches of colourful flowers and cards were welcomed and well received by the Darnlee staff who passed them onto residents. A few days later, I received a phone call saying how much the flowers brought happiness and cheer into the home. I really enjoyed making these flowers and was delighted to hear they were well received.”

There have been some other great examples of the girls completing their service component in the midst of COVID-19. These include helping to wash CFA Fire Trucks, writing letters to the elderly and one student has even entered the world of citizen science. She is helping to identify different species of birds.

I believe it is a testament to both the value of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award, and the resilience and ingenuity of our girls that there are so many great examples girls completing their award. Well done!