The Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Awards

The Award was first introduced in the UK back in 1956 by Prince Phillip – with the aim to motivate young people over the age of 14 years old to become involved in a balanced programme of voluntary and self-development activities.  In 1963 the Duke of Edinburgh acknowledged the establishment of the Award in New Zealand.

Today the award is established in 140 countries worldwide and there are 530 licensed Award centres in NZ, and Pinehurst School is one of these.

The Bronze Award is a compulsory component of Year 10 at Pinehurst. We currently run 2 tramps for Year 10’s – on Waiheke Island and the Pinnacles in the Coromandel. For those students who wish to pursue the Silver and Gold Awards, we run 3-day hikes, again on Waiheke Island and the Waitakere Ranges.  And finally, a 5-day Gold Adventurous journey, to Mt. Taranaki set in the Egmont National Park (usually the last week of November).