Two Sidmouth College teams triumphantly crossed the finish line of the Ten Tors challenge on Sunday, having completed a 35-mile trek.
The 12 Year 10 students were among around 2,500 young people who took part in the Dartmoor hike during the weekend of Saturday, May 7 and Sunday 8.
The teams consisted of Bronwyn, James, Matilda, Tom, Haiden and Dan, and Roman, Harriet, Sam, Rose, Josie and Ethan. Both groups finished well before the cut-off time of 5pm on Sunday.
It was the first Ten Tors since 2019, and the 60th time the event, organised by the Army, had taken place.
Sidmouth College’s inclusion manager Carole Clarke said: “Sidmouth College has a long history of teams in this challenge, and it was great to be able to offer both the training and the event to our students, especially as they had periods of time during the pandemic when opportunities to be with each other and take on new challenges together were limited.
“We were delighted to work with our Year 10 cohort and throughout the training from October to April all of the students involved showed resilience and enthusiasm, learning new skills such as map reading and teamwork.
“We are fortunate and grateful to have a group of skilled and experienced volunteers who work alongside staff members to offer this opportunity and who travelled to the Okehampton Army Camp for the weekend.
“We are also aware of the support that our students receive from their families.
“Our volunteers also get up at dawn on the Thursday before the event to drive our camp equipment to Okehampton and find us a good base camp on the site. They were in Okehampton queuing before 6am. This ensures we have flat ground and are situated near to toilets and water, and with up to 2,500 adults also camping at the site, this is an important part of the weekend! The adults also remain on camp during the weekend ready to meet the teams as they cross the finish line.”
Sidmouth College has thanked all the volunteers who supported its two teams, and the two staff members who were new to Ten Tors, Mr Richards and Miss King.
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