Information for

Students and

Parents

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is all about going the extra mile – gaining new skills, pushing yourself physically, helping others and exploring new activities. At the same time, you’ll gather friendships, experiences and memories that will last a lifetime.

Completing the D of E Award can often be easier than you think. If you are a student that completes extra curricular activities then the Award will be able to give you credit for what you are already doing rather than require you to start up something new.

What Awards are there?

There are 3 levels of award available. At the moment we only offer the Bronze Award in school but we hope to be able to also offer Silver and Gold in the future. These show the years that students can start each of the awards. However there is no requirement to finish the award before the end of the academic year and it can carry onto the next year if required.

• Bronze – Year 9
• Silver – Year 10
• Gold – Year 12

How do I complete the Bronze Award?

The Bronze award has 4 main sections. These include

• Physical (e.g. playing football, dancing, running or cycling)
• Skills (e.g. playing an instrument, photography or cooking)
• Volunteering (e.g. helping at Beavers, helping at Church or helping to coach a sports team)
• Expedition (2 days and 1 night camping) in the local countryside

For the first 3 of these sections, each must be completed for a minimum of 1 hour per week over the course of at least 3 months. One of the sections must be completed for at least 6 months. You can select which of the sections you complete for the longer time.

How do I complete the Silver Award?

The Silver award has the same 4 sections as Silver. These include

• Physical
• Skills
• Volunteering
• Expedition (3 days and 2 nights camping) in unfamiliar countryside

In the Silver Award, the Volunteering must be completed for a minimum of 6 months. Either the Physical or Skill section must also be completed for a minimum of 6 months with the other section being completed for a minimum of 3 months. The student can decide whether the Physical or Skill section should be completed for 6 or 3 months. If the student did not complete the Bronze award prior to starting Silver then one of the 3 sections must be completed for 12 months.

How do I complete the Gold Award?

The Gold award has 5 sections to complete. These include

• Physical
• Skills
• Volunteering
• Residential (see below)
• Expedition (4 days and 3 nights camping) e.g. in the Lake District

In the Gold Award, the Volunteering must be completed for a minimum of 12 months. Either the Physical or Skill section must also be completed for a minimum of 12 months with the other section being completed for a minimum of 6 months. The student can decide whether the Physical or Skill section should be completed for 12 or 6 months. If the student did not complete the Silver award prior to starting Silver then one of the 3 sections must be completed for 18 months.

At Gold students will also need to complete a residential. Students will stay away from home for five days and four nights doing a shared activity with people they don’t know. For example helping at a holiday camp, helping to put together a show or going away on a music camp.

For each section students need to:

Select a suitable activity. The following documents have a lot of ideas; skills ideas, physical ideas, volunteering ideas.

When students have selected an activity they need to find an assessor. The assessor must be

• An adult
• Not a family member
• Someone that has some knowledge of the chosen activity

Teachers can make good assessors if students are completing an activity related to their subject. Sports coaches and music teachers also make great assessors.

Set up the section on the EDofE app. Here students will need to add information about who the assessor is and what the planned activity is.

Agree an aim with the assessor. This should be measurable and specific e.g. if students are learning piano then “To be able to play my grade 5 pieces and be ready for my exam” is much better than “getting better at the piano”. If they are playing sports then “Improving my dribbling and crossing to increase my number of assists” is much better than “get better at football”. When an aim has been agreed an aim it should be added this to the correct section on the E D of E app.

Students should then submit the section for approval. At this point the D of E leader will look at what has been chosen for the activity, who the chosen assessor is and what the aim is. Providing they are all suitable then the section will be approved and the student can start the activity. If there are any problems then the leader will query the section and it will need to be updated.

Once the section is set up then students should complete the chosen activity for the required 1 hour minimum per week. During this time students should be in regular contact with their assessor. This will be easy to do if the assessor is a coach that the student would see each week, however if not then they should e mail the assessor each week with an update of what they have been doing. If students miss a week e.g. injured at football, then they will just need to add this onto the end of the 3 or 6 months. It is not suitable to complete an extended amount of time in one day and count this as a number of weeks. It must be a regular weekly commitment.

Students should also collect evidence and upload this to the E D of E app. Evidence could be as simple as uploading text evidence each week explaining what they have completed that week for the activity, taking pictures of what they have been doing, keeping a diary or completing a weekly log (https://www.dofe.org/do/activitylogs/) . This evidence will then be approved by the leader.

At the end of the section students then need to ask the assessor to complete a report to confirm that they have met their goals. The best way to do this is to send the following link to the assessor and ask them to complete it electronically (https://www.dofe.org/assessor/) As well as the link the following information will need to be sent

• E D of E ID – this can be found when the student logs into the app
• The level of award – Bronze, Silver or Gold
• The section they are assessing – physical, skills or volunteering.

When the assessor completes the report it will automatically be sent to the leader. They can then view and approve the report. When this is done, the section is completed.

Students need to get an assessors report completed and approved for all the sections to be able to complete the award.

It is important that students have an assessor in place before starting the section.

It is important to note that students are only able to attend the Bronze expedition if they have two sections (physical, skills and volunteering) already completed. To attend the Silver expedition they must have completed all other sections before the expedition. This means having a suitable assessors report completed for each section. This is to ensure that students have shown a suitable level of organisation and effort prior to the expedition.

Year 9 – Bronze Award – Strands in School

During year 9 in the creativity sessions, students will complete some D of E training to help prepare them for the expedition

During the first 18 weeks students will complete the following training by following a rotation

After this time students that have signed up to the award will be put in separate groups to those that have not decided to sign up for the award.

Students taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award will use the in school sessions to plan routes and route cards for their expedition. They will also spend time planning a menu in their groups and organising group equipment.

Students that have decided not to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award will complete a series of activities to fit in with the Duke of Edinburgh sections of Physical and Skills.

The Bronze expedition consists of 2 days activity (6 hours per day) and 1 nights camping. During a days activity students will be expected to

• Navigate themselves along their planned route (approx. 12 Km per day)
• Complete work on their chosen aim

They will also be expected to cook a substantial meal when they arrive at the campsite and be able to put up their own tents.

Students will need to ensure they have suitable equipment for the expedition. In school we have the following that will be supplied to students

• Tents
• Stoves
• First aid kits
• Survival bags
• Compasses
• Map cases
• A small number of rucksacks (available by e mail request on a first come first served basis)

However the rest of the equipment will need to be supplied by the students and their team. Here is a kit list and also some information on how to pack a rucksack.

During the expedition students will be allocated an assessor. This is usually a member of staff that has completed the required training. The assessor will agree checkpoints with the students and monitor them as they progress. The assessor will also watch the team at the campsite to ensure they work well together, can pitch their tent and can cook a suitable meal. Students need to meet 20 conditions to pass the expedition.

Overall students find the Duke of Edinburgh Award challenges but a lot of fun. It is a great way of them to learn something new, meet new friends and push themselves out of their comfort zone.

For each section you need to:

Select a suitable activity. The following documents have a lot of ideas; physical ideas, skills ideas and volunteering ideas:

Physical 

Skills 

volunteering 

Most Queried Activities 

When you have selected an activity you need to find an assessor. Your assessor must be

• An adult
• Not a member of your family
• Someone that has some knowledge of your chosen activity

Teachers can make good assessors if you are completing an activity related to their subject. Sports coaches and music teachers also make great assessors.

Set up your section on the EDofE app. Here you will need to add information about who your assessor is and what the planned activity is.

Agree an aim with your assessor. This should be measurable and specific e.g. if you are learning piano then “To be able to play my grade 5 pieces and be ready for my exam” is much better than “getting better at the piano”. If you are playing sports then “Improving my dribbling and crossing to increase my number of assists” is much better than “get better at football”. When you have agreed an aim you should add this to your section on the E D of E app.

You should then submit your section for approval. At this point your D of E leader will look at what you have chosen for your activity, who you have chosen as your assessor and what your aim is. Providing they are all suitable then the section will be approved and you can start the activity. If there are any problems then your leader will query the section and you can then update it.

Once your section is set up then you should complete your activity for the required 1 hour minimum per week. During this time you should be in regular contact with your assessor. This will be easy to do if your assessor is a coach as you would see them each week, however if not then you should e mail your assessor each week with an update of what you have been doing. If you miss a week e.g. you are injured at football, then you will just need to add this onto the end of the 3 or 6 months. It is not suitable to complete an extended amount of time in one day and count this as a number of weeks. You must complete a regular weekly commitment.

You should also collect evidence and upload this to the E D of E app. Evidence could be as simple as uploading text evidence each week explaining what you have completed that week for the activity, taking pictures of what you have been doing, keeping a diary or completing a weekly log (https://www.dofe.org/do/activitylogs/) . This evidence will then be approved by your leader.

At the end of the 3 or 6 months you then need to ask your assessor to complete a report to confirm that you have met your goals. The best way to do this is to send the following link to your assessor and ask them to complete it electronically (https://www.dofe.org/assessor/) As well as the link you will also need to let them know

• Your E D of E ID – this can be found when you log into the app
• The level of award – Bronze, Silver or Gold
• The section they are assessing – physical, skills or volunteering.

When your assessor completes the report it will automatically be sent to your leader. They can then view and approve the report. When this is done, the section is completed.

You need to get an assessors report completed and approved for all the sections to be able to complete the award.

It is important that you have an assessor in place before starting the section.

The Expedition

It is important to note that students are only able to attend the expedition if they have two sections (physical, skills and volunteering) already completed. This means having a suitable assessors report completed for each section. This is to ensure that students have shown a suitable level of organisation and effort prior to the expedition.

The final section is the expedition. Prior to completing the expedition you will be required to complete training in the following areas

• First Aid
• Countryside Code
• Navigation
• Cooking and Menu planning
• Team work
• Fitness

Time will be allocated for this training during the school year.

Once the training is completed the students will put themselves into groups of between 4 and 7. They will then plan a menu for their expedition and plan routes for each day. The Bronze expedition consists of 2 days activity (6 hours per day) and 1 nights camping. During a days activity students will be expected to

• Navigate themselves along their planned route (approx. 12 Km per day)
• Complete work on their chosen aim

They will also be expected to cook a substantial meal when they arrive at the campsite and be able to put up their own tents.

Students will need to ensure they have suitable equipment for the expedition. In school we have the following that will be supplied to students

• Tents
• Stoves
• First aid kits
• Survival bags
• Compasses
• Map cases
• A small number of rucksacks (available by e mail request on a first come first served basis)

However the rest of the equipment will need to be supplied by the students and their team. Here is a kit list and also some information on how to pack a rucksack.

During the expedition students will be allocated an assessor. This is usually a member of staff that has completed the required training. The assessor will agree checkpoints with the students and monitor them as they progress. The assessor will also watch the team at the campsite to ensure they work well together, can pitch their tent and can cook a suitable meal. Students need to meet 20 conditions to pass the expedition.

Overall students find the Duke of Edinburgh Award challenges but a lot of fun. It is a great way of them to learn something new, meet new friends and push themselves out of their comfort zone.

D of E Bronze Expedition Kit list

How tO pack your DofE rucksack poster

List of twenty expedition conditions