St John Plessington Catholic College

CELEBRATING DOFE SUCCESS

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme at SJP enjoyed another wonderful celebration evening last week.  We were joined by special guests Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Alex Hay and Kevin Rogers, all of whom were impressed by achievements of our pupils.

During the evening we celebrated the achievements of 138 of our pupils by awarding them with this highly prestigious award at Bronze, Silver and Gold level.  The evening itself had a wonderful feeling of community about it which was due to due to pupils being surrounded and support by friends and family.  Our guest speaker, Alex Hay had a tremendous message of accomplishment and challenge.  He began by congratulating our pupils on their achievements whilst challenging them to always celebrate achievement, no matter how big or small.  Alex’s message was inspirational to pupils as it encouraged them to never give up and to continue to be on the lookout for new challenges.  This message was echoed by Kevin Rogers who is the Operations Manager for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Northern office with responsibility for Merseyside, Cheshire and the Isle of Man.  Kevin spoke to pupils about the significance of the Award and the sense of community that only DofE Award holders know.

Many of us who know about the Duke of Edinburgh Award know that it is a great challenge at any level. It is a challenge, one to which all of our pupils not only attempted but accomplished. It was wonderful this evening to hear of the many stories our pupils have about their expeditions as these indicate that the Duke of Edinburgh Award is a real experience with memories that will last beyond their time at school.

The commitment and enthusiasm our pupils show towards this challenging yet invaluable award was embodied tonight in a celebration which not only awarded success but inspired challenge.

 

Photos to follow.