On Tuesday evening, the Coombe Federation stole the show at the 2011 Duke of Edinburgh’s Award evening, held at Surbiton High school and in collaboration with the Kingston Youth Support Service. 23 Students from the Girls’ school and 15   students from the Boys’ school gained their prestigious award in the bronze and  silver categories. The Coombe schools were just two of the 10 schools receiving awards on the night, but received more awards than any other private or state school in the borough.  Deputy Mayor, Geoff Austin, presented the awards on the night to the successful participants.

He said, “The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Programme teaches young people important life skills such as: independence, coping strategies, planning and time management. It is a pleasure to support the award and all the wonderful things young people are involved in.”

Kingston Youth Service
Two pupils from the Girls’ school, who were representing the KingstonYouth Service, opened the evening with fantastic musical performances. Scarlett Ketterman, of 10 Saturn played the acoustic guitar and sang The Bombay Bicycle Club’s track ‘Ivy and Gold’.  While Jessica Lee, from 10 Venus sang Jessie Jay’s hit ‘Mama Knows Best.’ As well as the musical talents, recently elected Georgia Bell, a member of Kingston Youth Parliament, spoke confidently about how she became interest in politics and how she wanted to help promote the good things young people were doing. “I was sick of young people being given a bad name in the press. Being part of the Youth Council will give me the opportunity to change this opinion.”

Teachers Pay Tribute
Mr Pellet, Unit leader of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at the Boys’ school said; “I am really proud of the Coombe boys and their level of commitment and dedication on the expedition section of the programme. I hope they stay focused and embark on the silver award next year too.” 

Ms Berzek Aldemir, Unit Leader for the Girls’ school, paid tribute to the Year 11 Coombe girls by saying: “I am really impressed with the work ethic the girls have. I am very proud to be part of the award at Coombe and hope we will be celebrating even more success in the future.”

BRONZE

HANNAH ALLGAR-PARR
SONALI ARORA
MARJAN AZIZ
SERENA BADESHA
ELLA BAKER
GRACE BARKER
GEORGINA BARRETT
KIRSTEN BYERS
LYDIA KANE
LAUREN LEITCH
CAITLIN MARSH
ALEXANDRA MICHAIL
LAURA MOORE
BENITA NAGPAL
MADELEINE NEWMAN
ZARA TALAT
SAMANTHA WEBB
CAITLIN WEBB
KATHARINE WILLIAMSON
QING XIN XUE