This weekend, 54 Year 9 students from The Bicester School took part in their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Practice Expedition across the South Warwickshire and North Oxfordshire countryside.
Starting bright and early on Saturday 16th May in the beautiful Burton Dassett Hills Country Park, students were greeted by a very grey and rainy morning. Despite the weather, spirits were incredibly high as all nine teams set off with enthusiasm, determination and plenty of singing from Cassidy, whose morale-boosting performances became the soundtrack to the weekend!
Students demonstrated excellent teamwork and map-reading skills throughout the first day, working brilliantly with their instructors as they trekked through Avon Dassett and across the South Warwickshire countryside before arriving at Horley Scout Campsite in North Oxfordshire to camp for the night.
Thankfully, the rain eased just in time for tents to go up and camp stoves to come out. Students embraced every part of expedition life, from pitching tents to cooking dinner, with varying degrees of culinary success! Mrs Withers and sixth form helpers Hannah, Jamie, Ewan and Tristan watched on proudly (and perhaps slightly cruelly) from the minibus while enjoying a Domino’s pizza kindly delivered to the campsite by Hannah, fresh from passing her driving test earlier in the week!
Meanwhile, Year 9 students produced a wide range of campsite cuisine: pot noodles, super noodles, pasta dishes ranging from gourmet to gloriously burnt and even hot dogs from tins that unfortunately arrived without a can opener. Special congratulations go to Dolly, who successfully cooked herself a pasta dish for the very first time — much to her mum’s pride!
The standout story of the evening, however, was undoubtedly Isobel’s addition to Team 1’s dinner. As they ambitiously attempted to cook garlic baguettes on a camp stove despite repeated warnings that this might prove impossible. After much debate, experimentation and confusion, the baguettes were eventually abandoned entirely, earning the now legendary title of “The Garlic Bread Gate”.
By 10:30pm, the entire campsite had settled down for the night, lulled to sleep by the calm sound of rain on tents. Sunday morning brought a complete change in weather, with sunshine and blue skies lifting everyone’s spirits immediately. Students emerged from tents from as early as 6:30am, with reports ranging from “a perfect nine hours of sleep” from Charlie to others claiming they had spent the night staring into darkness while listening to tentmates snore. Cassidy’s late-night singing and chocolate biscuit snacking also appeared to entertain much of the campsite well into the evening.
Despite the early start, all teams were packed, organised and ready to leave camp ahead of schedule, with everyone departing by 8:15am. Breakfasts consisted largely of squashed pastries, slightly battered pain au chocolat and the occasional exploding porridge pot — with Archie H taking particular responsibility for the latter.
There were also a few equipment mishaps along the way. Oliver’s £9 vintage rucksack sadly lost both straps during Saturday’s walk, while Charlie discovered that buying walking boots a size too small was perhaps not ideal preparation for a DofE expedition. Sunday therefore saw him completing the route in Mrs Withers’ boots — a memorable look if nothing else!
The second day’s walk was sunny, warm and far more forgiving. Teams powered through approximately 16km back through the Oxfordshire countryside and into Warwickshire, with all groups successfully returning to Burton Dassett Hills Country Park by around 3pm. Finish line was cleared efficiently and by 4:30pm the expedition had officially come to an end.
Overall, the weekend was an enormous success. Students showed resilience, teamwork, positivity and determination throughout challenging conditions and many discovered they were capable of far more than they initially thought. While some found parts of the weekend tough, every student should be incredibly proud of what they achieved.
With the Qualifying Expedition taking place on 11th–12th July, students now head into the next stage with valuable experience under their belts and a much clearer understanding of expedition life. We are already hoping for slightly better weather, even better preparation and perhaps fewer abandoned garlic baguettes!
A huge thank you goes to our fantastic sixth form helpers Hannah, Jamie, Ewan and Tristan, as well as BXM and all supporting staff and instructors who helped make the weekend possible.
Well done to all involved!
