Update on the Junior Duke Award

Year 6 have been making great strides into their Junior Duke challenges and the ‘dot sheet’ of completed tasks is filling up nicely. Mr Shone and Mrs Mynors have been the lucky recipients of a whole host of delicious goodies courtesy of our Year 6 cooks and bakers and we have been bowled over by the variety of things that make your children happy – from art and crocheting to cheer-leading and spending time with their pet.

Not content to be introspective, they have also been looking more widely at the world around them and completing the Caring for Others challenge – writing letters to the council about litter and zebra crossings, and volunteering to help out with sports involving younger children to name a couple.

They are showing such drive and enjoyment in doing things by themselves and proving just what a capable bunch they are. Keep it up Year 6!

The Junior Duke Award was launched this Monday morning with Year 6 and Year 2. Mr Alldrick, who heads up the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme in the Senior School, joined us to help introduce this project and enthuse the children. This has proved to be a very popular initiative since its inauguration at the Junior School (now in its 3^rd year in Year 6 and 2^nd year in Year 2).

After hearing from some of the adults involved, the Year 2 and Y6 children broke into small groups to have a chat about their thoughts on which challenges they might like to tackle first. Among the various conversations, there was a great deal of discussion about the complications of cooking for families which may have a range of requirements from Keto diets to vegans and meat eaters all sitting at the same table!

Some of Year 6 got the bit between their teeth and started their first challenge this weekend. We heard about children writing letters to the local council about possible improvements for road safety and lots of cookery. Mrs Mynors even got the joy of tasting some delicious homemade food, for which she is very grateful indeed!

This scheme offers the children a chance to challenge themselves, become more independent and learn new (hopefully life-long) skills along the way.