‘Gold’ students rewarded by the Palace

A GROUP of former Lord Williams’s students recently attended a reception at St James’s Palace where they received their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. The Award is the culmination of several years’ involvement in a range of challenging activities including expeditions, volunteering in the local community, undertaking physical activity and developing new skills & interests.

Emily Baker and Jamie Goetz proudly show off their awards

Former students receiving the Award were: Emily Baker, Mark Doulin, Sophie Gedge, Jamie Goetz, Katie Hall, Anna Osborne and Clare Thompson. One of the participants, Mark Doulin, said: “It was very nice to finally get to see the Palace and receive my Award. It was a lot of hard work but I am very pleased to have completed it. The DofE has led me onto the Mountain Leadership Award and other mountain adventures and it makes me very proud to look at the certificate hanging on my wall. I look forward to all the new adventures the Award inspired me to pursue.”

The Headteacher of Lord Williams’s School, David Wybron, added: “To achieve Gold in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award represents a very impressive achievement. Our students have been successful because of their strength of character, resourcefulness, enjoyment of teamwork and service to others. They will be joining a special band of young people.”

As well as the students who were lucky enough to attend a ceremony at the Palace, students in Years 10 and 11 attended a presentation evening for the Bronze & Silver Awards at Lord Williams’s on March 13.  In total, 45 Silver Awards and 98 Bronze Awards were presented by Oxfordshire DofE Manager, Andy Pope and Headteacher David Wybron. This year a further 28 students at Lord Williams’s are pursuing their Gold Award, 50 students working at Silver level and 140 students working towards their Bronze Award.

David Wybron added: “This would not be possible without the continued support of local volunteers and a wide range of community organisations, clubs and societies that welcome the young people into their regular activities. There are now over 90 adult volunteers involved in helping run the award in the Thame area, which is now in its 12th year.

“Also this month, seven of our DofE students were nominated for the Oxfordshire Pride Award at the Oxfordshire Youth Awards. The students who were nominated are Greg Forgan, Thomas Goetz, Daniel Kovacs, Peter Murphy, Luke Nixey, Richard Surridge and Milos Tasic. The Pride of Oxfordshire Award celebrates young people who have shown courage and inspirational resilience in the face of challenging life circumstances. These DofE students demonstrated positivity and strength of character in their determination to lead a successful life.”