Engagement

Apparently some of the group were up at 4 a.m. which seemed a little excessive especially as at the other end of the spectrum some had still been awake at 1 a.m. There is a reason I make sure I'm on a different part of the site.
It was a long day that the groups had planned but equally for many it was their first day of walking and certainly their first day of walking with the infamously large D of E pack on their backs. Many had clearly had the rucksack stocked and packed by possibly overprotective parents - 18 kg is a new record. Within that were four separate 1 kg bags of sweets!
For me there are two key pillars of D of E. First is Personal Growth, the development of personal independence and the ability to work in and with a team in a mutually supportive and understanding way. With this group none of them had met prior to this week and most had some additional needs, so to see their progress through the day was especially rewarding.
Second is engagement with the natural world. At this level we try to put together programs that are within a short distance of home (some kids need to travel due to lack of availability). Today's main Blip was taken 100m from the M42 and within a minute of the intercity line - yet it felt a million miles away.

Managing and training two teams can be difficult but with the new (to me) joy of satellite tracking I was able to see the red team (all boys) go wrong right from the campsite gate but also assess any risks they might face and watch them slowly work out where they were and how to correct it. When that too went wrong I'd already covered enough ground to be able to appear like a magical hill walking Mr Ben. The orange team (mostly girls) was slower and more methodical but, crucially, supportive of each other - a difference that seems more emphasised in these young teenage years.
By the end of a day in which the kids had done 12 miles and I'd done 18 we'd had the full range of emotions - but they (nearly) all listed a sense of achievement as the best part of their day.

The boys, who all told me that they were 'only' 5 or 6 out of 10 on a scale of tired, all had to be roused from their slumbers on the grass to be told to pitch their tents. The girls meanwhile were the only ones to shower and get their food ready.
Some stereotypes are only stereotypes because they're mostly true.