Year 11 Leadership Course on Dartmoor
A cohort of nervous Year 11 pupils set out during the October half-term to undertake the legendarily cruel Leadership Course on Dartmoor under the watchful, yet benevolent gaze of Jack 'Liquid Sunshine' Russell. A quick canoe in the dark down the Exeter canal, followed by a camp by the Exe estuary was an enjoyable and relatively painless way to break the pupils into the course. This was followed, however, by two days of unremitting rain, wind and fog as they then struggled to navigate, camp and cook on the inhospitable moor itself. All of the time, the pupils were tested physically and intellectually, being set many team tests as well as gruelling but exciting physical challenges like rock climbing and abseiling. Once again, the school record for doing the 'Planks Challenge' was broken for the fourth year in a row and the whole cohort acquitted themselves extremely well. Natural leaders emerged in the shape of Lewis Owen, Nathan Leonard and Peter Evans, but many others also impressed the instructors with their application and high spirits throughout. Yet another high standard has been set for our next year 11 to better!
