Laude The Lady Elizabeth School

LAUDE, The Lady Elizabeth School has the honour of being the only school on the Costa Blanca to run The International Award for Young People.

Students can choose to participate in the Bronze, Silver or Gold Programme with each level having different requirements.

There are four components of the Award; service (volunteering), physical, skills and expedition. The expedition part of the award is about adventure and discovery. Students develop an understanding of the environment, and the importance of working together in a team with a common purpose. Training, preparation, self-sufficiency and self-reliance are the key elements.

On Friday 25 March nine students, who are participating in either the bronze or silver programme, set out from the Senior School in Llíber with fully laden back packs to complete the expedition component of the Award. Carrying tents, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, cooking equipment, maps and provisions they started their trek from Llíber to Parcent. Using roads, tracks and pathways they made their way to the Vital Par Adventure Park and campground in Parcent, where they worked together to set up their tents and make the camp site comfortable. They shared the responsibility of preparing the evening meal, which consisted of burgers, beans, bacon and bread. They also prepared their packed lunch for the return journey to the School on the following day.

Some of the students completed the ropes course on the Saturday morning before they all packed up their equipment and wearily walked back to the School, satisfied in the knowledge that they have now completed all components of the Award!

In the next few weeks more expeditions will take place.

The expedition phase of the International Award was made possible by the very generous sponsorship of Blevin Franks who purchased tents, backpacks, camping stoves and cooking equipment.