The race to be the first to reach the South Pole was tightly contested and the first to complete the task was a Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928). Roald had originally planned an expedition to reach the North Pole. However, when he heard that Robert Peary claimed to have already reached the North Pole, he made last minute plans and decided to pursue the South Pole. He kept this a secret until the last minute as he was in a race with British explorer Robert Scott to be the first to the South Pole.

On January 14, 1911 Amundsen's ship, The Fram, arrived at the Bay of Whales in Antarctica. They set up camp there and prepared for the trip to the South Pole. They set out to reach the South Pole on October 20th, ten months after arriving on Antarctica. There were five men, 52 dogs, and four sleds. At first they travelled quickly, but soon they had to pass over mountains and avoid dangerous crevasses. Finally, after nearly two months of hard travelling, they reached their destination. On December 14, 1911 Roald Amundsen planted the Norwegian flag at the South Pole a little over a month before the British explorer Robert Scott.

One of the reasons Amundsen was so successful over other rivals like Sir Ernest Shackleton and Captain Robert Scott was the good strategic use he made of his dogs and skis and his meticulous planning and refusal to take unnecessary risks.  Amundsen set up food and supply depots along the proposed route and these depots were better positioned and better spaced than those of Scott, whose party perished on their return journey just a few miles short of one of their supply depots.

Amundsen's goal of reaching the South Pole had been ambitious but with careful planning and by breaking his journey into small bits his goal was achieved.

When setting goals it is important that you consider the ABCD of goal setting.

Achievable: Be realistic but also dream
Believable: Be positive and believe it can be achieved
Conceivable: Think through what needs to be done to achieve the goal
Desirable: Choose goals you really want

So as one semester draws to a close it is a time to reflect and then set goals for the final semester.  It is important to follow the rules to get what you want to achieve next semester. What are your goals? How will you achieve them?  What steps along the way will help you achieve your goals?

Tony Dosen 
Deputy Headmaster