canoeing practice for DoE award with Year 10

At the start of the lesson the teacher explained to the pupils that the goal was for them to have a understanding of how to manoeuvre a canoe in various directions, to practice working together by communicating who was going to sit at the back and front as well as who was going to paddle on the left or right, or in a symmetric motion with one another, and then went into further detail about the DoE award expedition where they will be canoeing along the river. 

After the teacher explained that they would be following an instructor' lead for the lesson. The instructor introduced themselves and then demonstrated the correct way to hold their paddle, how far their paddle would need to be in the water which was the whole of the paddle board, which movements they would need to make to go left, right, straight on or to reverse and talked about which way the wind was coming in as the pupils pointed in the direction towards the edge of the lake saying "it is coming towards us".

Then the pupils walked down the shore and stepped onto speedboat which took them to the end of the lake. The instructor explained the perimeter of where the pupils would be canoeing for their session. Next the instructor supported the pupils as they got into their canoe's and gave them a little push to start them off on their independent journey. The pupils began to communicate with each other as one pupil took the leader role of saying "you paddle on the left and I will paddle this side on the right". The pupils began to move in different directions along the lake following the instructor's guidance. 

While the pupils were out on the lake the instructor introduced them to a ball game where the rules was for them to work in their pairs to retrieve the ball which was thrown in a variety directions before their peers in the other canoe. As the pupils retrieved they would need to throw the ball into their peer's canoe from different distances such as up close or a whole canoe foot away. The pupils took it in turns to each have a go at throwing the ball. The instructor then set them a challenge to stand up their seats to throw the ball as the pupil's  started to show more comfort in their emotions with the balance of the canoe. 

As we finished the pupils followed the instructor's lead as they took on a bigger challenge of canoeing all the way back to shore across the whole length of the lake. When we got back to shore the pupils showed an interest in jumping into the lake and swimming back following staff encouragement.