The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE)

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) gives all young people aged between 14 & 24 the chance to develop skills for work and life, fulfil their potential and have a brighter future.

If young people take part in DofE, they’re in for an amazing adventure and masses of fun. They will participate in a range of activities, all leading to the achievement of an Award that’s recognised by universities and employers alike.

There are 3 different Award levels Bronze, Silver and Gold, all have similar sections of Volunteering, Skill, Physical and Expedition plus Residential at Gold.

Each Award requires more involvement as young people progress through the levels.

At King’s Hawthornes we offer the Bronze Award to those young people in Year 10 as an afterschool activity on a Tuesday from 3.00pm to 4.30pm, run by Miss Renshaw and Miss Kershaw. They also have help from Paul Riding from the company Award Solutions.

To achieve the Bronze Award young people need to complete a personal programme of activities in four sections:

• Volunteering: undertaking service to individuals or the community
• Physical: improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness activities
• Skills: developing practical and social skills and personal interests
• Expedition: planning, training for and complete a practice and qualifying expedition in the UK.

In the volunteering, physical and skill sections, young people participate in their chosen activity for a minimum of one hour per week on each section over a period of three to six months.

The expedition section involves the young people attending a number of afterschool training sessions to prepare them for the, two day one night, camping practice and then qualifying expedition.

Recruitment starts in September via an assembly to explain all about the award, and its benefits.

Over the following weeks, the young people are supported to develop their own award programme around their interest and can use other afterschool activities to count towards their award. This support is continued throughout the year to monitor progress and provide encouragement.

Expedition training then starts in January and is finished by April.

Our aim is that all young people would have finished everything except the expeditions by April/May of Year 10 – allowing practice and qualifying expeditions to take place in the summer term. Expeditions are planned so they do not clash with exams or work experience.

For more information please speak to Miss Renshaw or Miss Kershaw or visit the DofE web site www.dofe.org

We work closely with the company Award Solutions who have over 35 years experience of delivering the DofE. For further information go to www.awardsolutions.org.uk