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CO-CURRICULAR 17
Bronze And Silver DofE Awards Evening
On Monday 21 November, 165
members of the Fifth and Lower
Sixth were presented with their
Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh
(DofE) Awards by Head, Simon
Marshall. Seventy seven L6 pupils
received their Silver Award and
eighty eigth Fifth Formers their
Bronze. In addition, twenty
members of the U6 achieved the
top award of Gold this summer;
they will be invited to a special
ceremony at St James’s Palace in the
presence of either HRH, the Duke
of Edinburgh or Prince Edward, the
Earl of Wessex.
Firstly, Mr Argyle, our DofE Manager, spoke
to parents and pupils on the success of the
programme at Bancroft’s. We regularly
have the highest number of awards for
a co-educational day school within the
London region. 2016 was no exception
with an overall pass rate for all awards at an
impressive 82%.
Old Bancroftian and Gold Award holder,
Vaclav Prusa, spoke of the challenges he had
faced and the “unique skill set” he gained
while working towards his Gold Award: from
his residential to the physical and mental
demands of the expedition to Snowdonia,
“The numerous skills I learnt throughout my
award complemented me when I finished
my path at School and went onto University;
they have also continued to benefit me into
my working life.”
After presenting the successful pupils with
their badges, Head, Simon Marshall, also
spoke about the long term benefits of the
Award to pupils and his interaction with
the Gold groups on their expedition in
Snowdonia this October.
Lower Sixth pupil Caroline Wyatt said, “I
finished my Silver expedition in the Black
Mountains exhausted but happy; I am now
looking forward to new challenges as I
embark upon my Gold Award. I hope that, I
too, will be able to attend a presentation at
St James’s.”
The evening was a fitting celebration of the
dedication and work put in by these pupils
over the past year and also a tribute to the
support given by their parents and members
of staff at the School.
Bancroft’s Remembers
Remembrance Sunday was marked
with a moving chapel service led
by our Chaplain, the Rev Ivan
Moore. Parents, staff, pupils and
Old Bancroftians joined the two
hundred members of the School
Combined Cadet Force, as well as
representative from the Sea Scouts
and Cubs, as they remembered
those who have given their lives in
conflict.
Before the service, the CCF marched
along Whitehall Road and the High
Road, before processing into the School
grounds. Following the ceremony, a
wreath was laid on the School War
Memorial in the Quad by Head of
Contingent RSM, TomWalton while
Cpl Ben Harris played the Last Post.
The traditional silence was marked by
all those present. Flag bearers were
Cpl Archie Woods and Head of RAF Robert
Sharp while the colours of the School’s Sea
Scout troop were carried by Tamsyn Hancock
and Orla Joyce. A second wreath was laid on
the memorial tablet in honour of
the more recent loss in Afghanistan of those
associated with Bancroft’s.