D of E Coordinator: Alex Jackson

Gold Award Leader: Roger Eckersley

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is an incredibly popular scheme undertaken by hundreds of thousands of young people nationally every year. It is highly regarded by employers, colleges and universities and gives students an opportunity to develop and experience new things.

There are 3 levels of award for candidates to choose from; Bronze, Silver, and Gold. There are differing costs, differing opportunities, differences in the amount of time and difficulty of the challenge. This increases across the awards, and results in the option to show the best core values the candidate are able to.

· Each involves physical, volunteering and skills sections and an expedition. At gold level there is an additional section, working with a team on a residential.

· The point of this is personal development. Teamwork, communication, acquisition of novel skills in a relatively short time, involvement in community support, personal skills and determination/perseverance. These skills will produce a more capable and outward-thinking adult with leadership skills. This is part of Farmor’s core values.

Sections:

· Skills = 3 months at bronze, 3 or 6 months at silver, 6 or 12 months at gold. Click here for ideas

· Physical = 3 months at bronze, 3 or 6 months at silver, 6 or 12 months at gold. Click here for ideas

· Volunteering = 3 months at bronze, 6 Months at silver, 1 year at gold. Click here for ideas

How can parents help?

Parents form the third part of the triangle of support for a child to succeed at this. Ensuring they have the right and most appropriate equipment and clothing is vital. Giving experience in camping avoids their first camping trip being a potentially unenjoyable experience. Encouragement, checking how their progress is going using the eDofE website or app, taking them to their volunteer work, all of it is important and could be the difference in candidates achieving their award. You can’t be assessors but you can share this link to their assessor which will make their work and you child’s life a little simpler

Writing_Assessor_Reports.pdf (dofe.org)

Equipment and Cost

Bronze:

· Estimated cost: 2022 price: £195

· Equipment required: Link to kit list

· Expedition: 2 days and 1 night

Silver:

· Estimated cost: 2022 price: £295

· Equipment required: Link to kit list

· Expedition: 3 days and 2 nights

Gold:

· Estimated cost: 2022 price: £395

· Equipment required: Link to kit list

· Expedition: 4 days and 3 nights on mountainous terrain.

· Additional section: Working with a team: 5 days and 4 nights away from home. Link to programme ideas

For additional informational on the award please visit the DofE website on the following link:  https://www.dofe.org/ 

Any further enquires please contact Alex Jackson, the Duke of Edinburgh Award’s Coordinator on ajackson@farmors.gloucs.sch.uk