Suthers School in Fernwood supported pupils achieve their goals at the Duke of Edinburgh award

A Fernwood school has been praised by the family of one of their pupils for going “above and beyond” to aid pupils to thrive in a youth awards programme.

Elliott Ready, 15, a pupil at Suthers School, achieved a silver award at the Duke of Edinburgh programme after the school adapted the physical challenge element of the programme to adapt to Elliott’s needs caused by his autism, ADHD with a functional neurological disorder, and symptoms of Tourette’s diagnosis.

The standard version of the Duke of Edinburgh award includes volunteering, physical and skill sections, and a walking expedition over three days and two nights.

But as Elliott struggled with his balance during the Bronze award challenge, it was clear that for his silver expedition, he would need an alternate route, and he was able to take on canoeing instead of walking.

Alice Ready, Elliott’s mother, said: “His physical challenges meant that in order to participate in the silver award, which he wanted to do, he would be unsafe due to the increased difficulty level and periods of up to five hours between contact points.

“His conditions cause him to stagger and fall but also have ticks that affect his head and cause neck muscle strain - the falling over makes him unsafe and the neck strain makes it extremely difficult to carry the heavy weight of his equipment.”

The group of students canoed from Leicestershire to Newark over the course of three days and camped at Holme Pierrepont and Southwell.

For the other elements of his silver award, Elliot played badminton as a sport, took part in the school musical playing Lurch in the Addams Family, and has been working to support the community as part of his volunteering section.

Alice added: “Suthers went above and beyond to offer and put together an additional expedition to accommodate Elliott.

“The canoeing was special because it's not something that most schools offer.

“Students with additional needs would either not be able to participate in Duke of Edinburgh, or have to use external companies in order to complete their award and not be able to go away with their friends or staff that they know - this is sometimes even more important for students with additional needs.

“It means the world to us that the school is prepared to go above and beyond to enable Elliott time and again to be successful and get as much out of his time at Suthers as possible.

“These expectations really help Elliott to gain essential independent skills and spend time working with his peers.”

The family added that the school works hard to create a fun, inclusive environment that values every student as an individual as they not only support them during school times, but also took part of their weekends to take part in the expedition and provide comfort and support.

Jack Sykes-Wood, the headteacher of PE at Suthers school said: “Elliot struggled with his balance on the Bronze DofE and with the more difficult landscape for Silver, we explored an alternative mode of travel which would allow him to continue the DofE award.

“We identified some other students who might not have continued onto Silver without our involvement due to SEND/Medical needs.

“We believe that everyone should have the chance to be successful and be empowered to go above and beyond both in school and through opportunities like the DofE Award.

“We are extremely proud of what our DofE participants have achieved and hope they continue their journey to Gold.”