Coping in the wild with the Royal Marines

Students swapped a day in school for learning to cope in the wild with the Royal Marines.

Year 12 students from IntakeHigh School and FarnleyParkHigh School in Leeds learnt traditional skills including fire building, map reading and shelter construction. These skills will not only help them in the wild, but also in the classroom and when they enter employment.

Through shelter construction young people learnt the fundamentals about what is required to build somewhere safe, dry and secure. These are skills which would be essential for anyone wanting to develop a career in architecture, construction and engineering.

The experience was about getting up close and personal with each task as the cookery element of the day proved. There were no ready meals or packs of supermarket prepared chicken, instead the young people were given rabbits and after being shown how to skin and prepare a rabbit where given the challenge to prepare their own one which once skinned and cooked was eaten with field rations.This brought home where meat really comes from and the process it goes through before arriving washed, cleaned and shrink-wrapped in the supermarket.

The young people learned about what it takes to be a marine and the essential need for team skills. In the stretcher race at the end of the day they learnt about coming together as a team to save someone and importance of everyone playing their part to ensure the injured victim would get to safety without falling off the stretcher or being caused any further pain.

Ann-Marie Clayton, Personal Adviser at IntakeHigh School said: “This has been a valuable experience for all the young people. Some of them are really interested in the Royal Marines, especially after finding out more about what they do. Even for those with little or no interest in become a Marine this has been a very worthwhile experience with the young people learning skills which they can take through life with them.”

ENDS