Students were honoured for their success on the Duke of Edinburgh’s programme during a presentation evening led by a former GB Olympic athlete.

More than 90 students achieved their DofE Bronze, Silver or Gold award, with 52 of them attending an awards ceremony to be presented with their medals by relay runner Phil Brown, who is also the CEO for the DofE’s central region.

The event gave parents and Highfields’ DofE team the chance to celebrate the achievements of students on the challenging programme throughout 2017. Parents also had the opportunity to watch interviews by students about their experiences and DofE highlights as well as browse photographs taken on expeditions to Llandrinio and Snowdonia.

Special accolades were also awarded to students who have shown excellent leadership and commitment to their DofE programme.

The Bronze award individual accolade was won by Mrithula Raj Balaji for her support of other students on her expedition. The individual Silver award was awarded to Jack Evans for his commitment to volunteering to both the Penn Fields DofE programme and his support in officiating school football at Highfields. The Gold Endeavour award was given to three students - Alisha Patel, Maiya Bahra and Kent Stavenuiter - for their excellent work mentoring Bronze DofE students and their support with expeditions.

Maiya was also able to be receive her Gold award brooch in preparation for a visit to either Buckingham Palace or St James’s Palace to officially receive her award. She will be joined in London by Alisha Patel and Josh Slomka-Moore, who have also achieved the Gold award - DofE’s highest honour - but were unable to attend the school presentation evening due to university commitments.

Mr C Moody, who runs Highfields’ DoE programme, said: “The evening was a resounding success which gave us chance to celebrate the incred- ible achievements of students on the DofE programme. I would also like to say a massive thank you to all parents for their support.”

Hundreds of Highfields’ students have taken part in the DofE programme since the school started running the scheme around 10 years ago.