Fourteen Galston High School students earned the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award last month, completing one of the program’s most rigorous youth development challenges.
The internationally recognised award demands at least six months of sustained work across four streams: community service, physical activity, skill development and an adventurous journey. Students carry the load alongside full-time study.
Those who completed the Bronze are Brigette Zaplatel-Lindberg, Isabella Wettengel, Harrison So, Emily Shepherd, Lachlan Kennedy, Victoria Barnes, Jordan Herrington, Camilla Tapia, Christian Zaplatel-Lindberg, Samuel Powell, Quinn Care-Wickham, Oscar Turnbull, Charlie Powell and Jessica Mote.
Several are already chasing Silver and Gold.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award operates in more than 130 countries. At the Bronze level, it asks teenagers to push past classroom comfort — volunteering in their communities, training their bodies and navigating unfamiliar terrain on multi-day expeditions.
Galston, in Sydney’s northwest, has run the program for several years. Staff say the cohort’s completion rate this cycle was strong.
None of this happens by accident. Students juggle assessment weeks, part-time jobs and sport while logging hours in award booklets that are signed off by a licensed assessor. The paperwork alone filters out anyone not fully committed.
The fourteen students who got there did it the hard way. No shortcuts are built into the program’s design.
