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Thirty-three students from Year 9 have successfully completed their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition.

It was very physically demanding and pupils walked around 35km over two days from Rainham to Hornchurch and Upminster and back.

Pupils were self-sufficient and were not allowed to use public transport or shops, and they carried their tents, food, clothing, cooking equipment.

“During the expedition I really enjoyed working as a team with my friends," said Tayla, Year 9.

"We had to figure out where to go and how we were going to get there. Walking made us able to have conversations instead of just walking on our phones and not very social. This helped us as a team and we had to communicate with each other to ensure we were not walking too fast for some people.”

Basit in Year 9 said the expedition was one of the best things they had experienced for some time. "It was fun and also very valuable to me," said Basit. "It brought everyone of us together due to us having to work with each other and support each other through a long and difficult journey. If there is one thing I would change, I just wish we could have gone away and camped instead of staying at school due to COVID reasons. Overall, it was a breath-taking experience…literally.”