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 with 530 licensed Award centres in NZ. Pinehurst School is proud to be one of these.

The Award is supported by extensive research and evidence of its effectiveness as a youth development program, including the below:
- improved employability and earning potential
- improved physical health and fitness
- improved mental health and emotional wellbeing
- increased engagement with charitable and community causes
- improved environmental impact
- increased social cohesion

The Bronze Award is a compulsory component of Year 10 at Pinehurst. In 2025 we will run 2 camps for Year 10’s including a Practice camp at Tawharanui in Term 1 and a Qualifier camp at Rangitoto and Motatapu Islands during Term 4. For those students who wish to pursue the Silver and Gold Awards, we run two camps for each level of the Award. Silver Practice camp is in the Hunua Ranges just south of Auckland in March while the Qualifier camp takes place in September at a location yet to be confirmed. Gold Practice camp is in April in the Bay of Plenty's Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tane Conservation Park with the Qualifier camp in November on the Great Walk Heaphy Track in the South Island's Kahurangi National Park. 

For more information, the Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Awards website has a wealth of information about how the various levels of the Award work.