College News

QE Students Embark on Once-in-a-lifetime College Trip to Iceland

Twelve students have set off on a once-in-a-lifetime college camping expedition to Iceland with adventure travel organisation World Challenge. The group of teenagers from QE will trek past the volcanic peaks of Kerlingarfjöll, tour the Golden Circle and explore the Westman Islands as part of the 12-day programme of travel. Accompanied by experienced World Challenge leader Chris Rhodes, and college leaders Nancy Wall and Kat Wilson, the students will also be given the opportunity to work on a pioneering reforestation project and discover Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavík. “It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students not only to discover the beautiful landscapes of Iceland, but also consider their roles within the global community,” said Nancy, QE’s Course Leader in Leisure and Tourism. “They’ll learn about responsible travel, get their hands dirty on the reforestation initiative and have to cook their own meals at camp; this will really develop their independence, confidence and resilience.”

Among those going are four friends – Katelyn Craig, Mhairi McElhoney, and twins Jenny and Abbie Walker – who first met as young children 14 years ago. They attended the same primary and secondary schools in Sedgefield before collectively choosing to take their A Levels at QE. The Year 13 girls, who all opted to study Maths and Physics as two of their three A Level choices, wanted to take part in the World Challenge trip together before heading off to three different universities to study separately for the first time. Jenny, who plans to study aerospace engineering at The University of Sheffield, said: “We’ve always done everything together since we met at nursery and reception, so when we heard about World Challenge we all jumped at the opportunity!” The students have spent the last year each raising the £2,000 needed to fund the trip. Katelyn, Jenny and Abbie completed the three peaks challenge to raise money. “We’ve done our Duke of Edinburgh’s award together and we wanted to challenge ourselves to do something completely different,” said Marie, who is heading to The University of Manchester to study physics. “We are all looking forward to experiencing everything Iceland has to offer and getting involved in the reforestation project.”