The Gold training expedition due to leave Monday is now cancelled due to severe weather forecast on departure and ongoing stormy conditions in the mountains we are visiting for the rest of the week.
I will try and contact everyone involved but please spread the word.
A suggested alternative date is around 10-14 July. Keep this free.
Call me or email me or text me if you would like more info.
MrC
Whilst uncertainty exists over track and intensity there is a rising risk of a potentially severe storm developing in the SW and crossing the UK towards the NE over Sunday night and Monday. This storm, propagated by an extreme 180mph stingjet over the English Channel, could bring severe southerly gales with gusts possibly even up to 60mph for much of the south, especially bad towards the SE, including Reigate and near coasts and south of the M4. Storm Force 11 winds will occur in the Channel. Whilst this is still uncertain it will obviously cause disruption if the worst case occurs.
Whilst winds are due to die down fairly rapidly during Monday, especially further west, the conditions overnight Sunday- Monday may cause disruption to our intended departure and much of our intended route to Wales. Whilst wind speeds are due to ameliorate further west during the day they will still be significant and any fallen trees or damage and delays could be significant if this turns out to be as severe as we are expecting.
PLEASE watch forecasts and school will make a decision in due course as to how travel plans are affected and what we will do in that event.
CHECK rgs.to/weather for details.
S Collins
The Silver DofE 5th form had an active day last Friday doing team building activities in Tilgate Park. They had fun doing mountain biking, raft building and canoeing. Well done to them, they were a superb bunch all day despite the rain and cold in the afternoon. Many thanks to Anne Sharp for these great photos of the day!
PARENTS AND STUDENTS… FOLLOW ALL DOFE ACTION ON OUR NEW LIVE TWITTER FEED @RGSdofe
This week sees the LAST meeting for Gold L6 training expedition planning to Wales in half term. The meeting on Thursday is compulsory to help ensure a safe and well organised late season mountain expedition to S Wales.
BRONZE 4th years will collect EXPEDITION REPORTS on Tuesday which must be finished and handed in to dofe office by this Friday 18 October half term to qualify.
All meets this week as follows:
Tuesday
Bronze 4th year de-brief and How to Finish Bronze meet 4-5pm Concert Hall L6 award leaders attend too.
Morocco Expedition Parents and student meeting Recital Room 7:00pm
Sign Language 4-5pm Room 12
Thursday
GOLD L6 FINAL training expedition meet 1:15pm D1 compulsory attendance! Safety and emergency response, final plans and letters.
Important: L6 Gold: letters about this expedition went out last week: please check mail and get a letter (with consent form) from DofE office this week if you have not got one.
90 students set off on their Bronze qualifying walking expedition 11-12 October. Despite a calm, cool and sunny start, a MetOffice and RGSweather alert for heavy rain and strong winds quickly bore fruit with 30-40mph winds and heavy rain from lunchtime on-wards on the first day. This expedition was one of the stormiest local expeditions for some time but staff were most impressed with the fortitude and spirit shown by students in more difficult circumstances than usual.
Some groups understandably struggled with navigating and keeping their kit dry in the conditions but all battled through to the end and camped overnight in stormy woods in wet gear with gusts blowing through trees all night.
Saturday dawned bright and calm and gave groups a cool sunny finish to their expedition on Reigate Hill.
Most groups kept their site impressively clean despite the weather but a few groups could improve their camp craft with more attention to keeping all areas of camp tidy at all times, particularly keeping important kit like sleeping bags dry in foul weather and not losing important items in the dark. Navigation was generally good given the rough weather.
Well done to all on surviving some rough weather… a good training experience for Silver and Gold 😉
A successful Bronze qualifying canoe expedition also took place and I’ll post news of this soon.
Update Weather Alert: for activities day and Bronze (and Gold) expeditions: weather Friday and Sat in SE potentially unpleasant with COLD, WET and windy conditions: northerly Arctic airmass and LOW pressure to the SE of the country likely to produce heavy rain and showers. Rain arrives Fri pm and will persist, with cold wind through to Saturday. Overnight camp cold and wet and windy. Apparent temps / wind chill could be <5c so prepare plenty of warm clothing. CHECK www.rgsweather.com for details.
Wear reflective gear.
Include layers of warm clothing including hats and gloves for cold wet conditions at camp.
Remember torch / batteries.
RGS expeditions are assessed on a PERK criteria. Participants will qualify if they have satisfied all requirements.
Tuesday 8 Oct: 4th year bronze kit check 4-5.30pm concert hall
Thursday 10 Oct: L6 Gold kit check lunchtime D1: arrive early!
Friday 11 Oct – Sat 12 Oct: Bronze exped.
Reigate Grammar School DofE 