Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
What is the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme?
The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (DofE) is non-competitive and open to all young people – it's about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries. There are three levels of DofE programme which, when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.
Through their DofE, students will make friends and memories and build traits like confidence, resilience and self-esteem, which can benefit mental health. They’ll gain skills and attributes for work and life, like problem-solving, team-working and self-motivation – and they’ll achieve an Award that’s recognised by top employers and can help them stand out when applying for uni or for jobs.
To achieve their Award, participants must complete four sections: Skills, Volunteering, Physical and their Expedition.
Every young person’s DofE programme is personal to them – they can choose what they’d like to do for their Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections, and most activities can count. We will provide guidance and support, and students can either choose to continue an activity they already do or discover something completely new.
DofE at Little Heath School
Students at Little Heath School have the opportunity to enrol on the Bronze Award in Year 9. The award requires students to complete activities in the following sections:
- Volunteering - helping someone, the community or the environment
- Physical - becoming fitter through sport, dance or fitness activities
- Skills - developing existing talents or trying something new
- Expedition - planning, training for and completing an adventurous journey
It will usually take you at least 6 months to complete your Bronze programme.
- Volunteering section: 3 months
- Physical section: 3 months
- Skills section: 3 months
- Expedition section: 2 days/1 night
You also have to spend an extra three months on one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections. It’s your choice which one and, though you can change your mind later, you should decide which section you want to do for longer at the beginning. Knowing how long you’re going to do it for will help you to choose your activity and set your goals for each section.
Students, find out more about the Bronze scheme here:
Are you interested?
If the Duke of Edinburgh award is something that interests you, come and talk to Mrs Meader in the Technology department, or drop her an email, to find out how you can get involved: jmeader@littleheath.org.uk
Sign up today!
Click on the link below to sign up today:
FAQs
Isn't this a lot of extra work? How will I ever be able to fit it into my studies?
You set your own programme to fit into your own timescale. It’s not a race to complete and you have until you are 25 years old. It is also possible to change your activities if you need to. Your choice of activity can also help further your studies but cannot be used towards coursework for an exam subject in school.
How do we do our Expedition?
The school will run you through your training for the expedition along with the expeditions themselves. For the bronze level you only need to complete one expedition and this will be done in the local area.
Doesn’t it cost a lot of money to do the DofE Award?
The total cost is £190 per person (Bronze Award 2024/25) paid in two instalments. If your child is interested in taking part but the cost is prohibitive, please do speak to Mrs Meader as we may be able to arrange financial support. Upon making the first payment, please could you also complete the form linked here with your child’s details and your permission for them to participate.
You will need to purchase a pair of walking boots, and you may also wish to purchase personal DofE expedition equipment (waterproofs, rucksack). Pupils entitled to Pupil Premium may be able to use this money for their DofE Award. There are also local grants to which young people can apply to subsidise their DofE programme.
| Useful links | |
|---|---|
| DofE basic information | |
| Planners to record your sections | https://www.dofe.org/do/programmeplanners/ |
| eDofE tracking website | https://edofe.org/ |
|
Expedition links: |
|
|---|---|
| Expedition kit guide | DofE Expedition Kit Guide |
| Kit list | DofE Expedition kit list October 2024 |
| Packing a rucksack | Everything you need to know about packing your expedition rucksack |
| Eating on expedition | DofE-Eating-on-your-expedition-poster-A3.pdf |
| Preparing for the weather | Dealing with the elements on a DofE Expedition |