Around 100 Year 10 students at Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College were presented with their bronze Duke of Edinburgh awards at a celebratory breakfast today.

They tucked into croissants, fruit, pain-au-chocolate and fruit juice in recognition of around 4,752 hours of competing and 1,000 hours of volunteering across the groups to achieve the award.

For their award, students completed four different sections including volunteering, skill, physical and expedition, learning new skills for life and giving back to the local community.

Zoom calls to check on people and doing shopping during the pandemic were examples of the volunteering work done by the students who also followed a map trail and cooked a meal on their travels as part of the award.

Friends Mia Newton, Bea Garvie and Grace Sykes who were among those who collected their awards today said they thoroughly enjoyed taking part and it was a great opportunity to learn more.

Mia (15) said: "We all worked together and helped each other. There were times when one wanted to go another way but we worked it out and got through with team-building skills."

Headteacher Ellen Walton said she was proud of both the staff and girls who had taken part and helped build on the school's impressive Duke of Edinburgh award programme.

She said: "Our Duke of Edinburgh provision is amazing. The number of staff and students who spend their weekend on expeditions is outstanding.

"Not only does it show the dedication of our staff to extra-circular and the personal development of our students but it also shows the tenacity, commitment and resilience of our students."