SFS News
Smith Island Schools Competition
Posted on 19th September 2007
As you may be aware already, Angus Cater, the Managing Director of SFS Group Ltd set sail, on the 9th of September, for Smith Island, in Antarctica where his expedition intends to climb Mount Foster.
We would like to offer schools the opportunity to follow his progress around the globe and down to Smith Island by providing a school project in which all school children aged 6 to 13 from independent schools can participate. There will also be opportunities for pupils and the school to win from a range of prizes.
This trip has had some prime time television coverage on the BBC and Radio 5 and is expected to be world news should the expedition succeed in all of its goals.
Most information regarding the trip can be found at www.smithisland.co.uk.
I enclose a project outline and competition pack for your information. If you do have any further questions, or indeed if you would like your school to participate, then please contact Tonia Lewis-Monto on 01306 746308.
We hope you find this project offers an exciting opportunity for your pupils to share in the spirit of adventure and learn more about the world at the same time.
Further Information
Objective
To encourage interest in all the many different facets of Antarctica in children aged 6 – 13.
Background
From September 2007, Angus Cater will be sailing his yacht Harrac to the South Shetland Islands on the North West tip of Antarctica. His journey will take him down to the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, down the west coast of South America, and finally across Drake’s Passage to Smith Island in the South Shetlands. There he hopes to land the first British team to climb the 7,000 ft Mount Foster, before sailing home via the Falkland Islands, Rio de Janeiro and the Azores. The total journey is 18,000 miles. Interested parties will be able to track his journey on the website http://www.smithisland.co.uk/ .
The first question that most people ask is why. The answer is simple. 30 years ago Angus’ friend, Simon Richardson set sail from Southampton to attempt the same feat. His ship was lost and Simon was drowned. This trip is in memory of Simon.
Antarctica
Antarctica is one of the largest continents on earth and one of the most unspoilt. It is protected through a treaty signed by all the great powers in 1959 . It has a huge variety of mammal and bird life in spite of its harsh environment and has a unique beauty.The
Competition
The objective of the competition is to use the medium of Angus’ trip to encourage a variety of learning experiences for younger children. The journey Harrac will take passes through four oceans, three continents and she will stop in 7 countries. They expect to record sightings of a huge variety of wildlife and to experience every type of weather.
The age ranges for the Competition have been broken down into three: 6-8 years, 9-10 years, and 11-13 years.
6 – 8 years: We would like children to produce a poster entitled ‘Antarctica’. We hope this will encourage children to learn about Antarctica and to attempt to communicate its ‘essence’ visually.
9 – 10 years: The aim for this age group is to produce a map tracing Harrac’s journey. We anticipate that this will allow for much creative interpretation of the seas, countries and wildlife that Harrac will encounter.
11 – 13 years: Many explorers down the years have been attracted by the wild and savage beauty of the Antarctic. Franklin and Scott are probably the best known. One of Simon’s crew was a well known explorer and mountaineer called Bill Tilman. It was he who originally ignited Simon’s desire to go to Antarctica.
We would like entrants to submit an essay on the motivation of these great explorers. Why did they risk their lives to go to such inhospitable places? We anticipate that this will involve some reading of the lives of these men and it would be interesting to see whether the modern day adventurers such as Pen Hadow or Bear Grylls are motivated by the same things that drove those of a previous generation to such feats of endurance and bravery.
Submissions
We would like schools to submit two finalists in each age range by 31 May 2008. The judges will be Angus Cater, Pen Hadow, and Dr Tim Hands, Headmaster of Magdalen College School, Oxford.
Prizes
- All the winners plus their parents or form teacher will have the opportunity for a day’s sailing on Harrac during the summer 2008
- Angus will visit all of the winning schools and do an illustrated talk about the trip
- There will be three winners per category. The first will receive £150, the second £100, and the third £50. All the runners up will receive a £20 book token
- The form teacher for each winner will receive £100 to spend on teaching aids
- The prizes will be presented to the winners at a reception in London during July/August 2008 where there will be an opportunity to meet the judges and review all the finalists work
Rules
- All entries must be submitted by 31 May 2008
- The judges’ decisions will be final and no correspondence will be entered into concerning their decisions.
- The competition known as The SFS Smith Island Competition is sponsored by SFS Group Ltd. By entering the competition all participants agree that SFS may use their work, in whatever way they so choose, for publicity purposes.