Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award

We have been offering students the opportunity to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Bronze Award for many years and it always proves very popular with our students.

As per DofE guidelines, participants doing the Bronze Award have to be at least 14 years old so we invite all our Year 10 cohort to apply each year.

"The Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award provides an amazingly rewarding experience for our students. Participants gain improved independence, resilience and confidence in areas outside the classroom environment.
Successful participants need to invest time and effort and demonstrate commitment to complete the award.
This year, even under uncertain times, students have shown the true value of being resilient and flexible to complete the award. They have had to change their set plans and they have flourished."

Mrs McDermott, Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator

Each year 40-50 participants take part in the Bronze Award, devoting hundreds of hours volunteering in their local community, getting fitter, learning new skills and discovering they are capable of far more than they ever realised.

What is the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award?

The Bronze Award consists of four sections: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. All four sections must be completed in order to achieve the award.

For the first three sections, students must select a relevant activity to participate in and complete one hour a week for three months and a further three months in one of the sections.

Students must work independently on their chosen activities, which must be extra-curricular (so can be during the evenings or weekends or a before/after school break session or during lunch break, but NOT during a P.E. lesson for example), and their efforts must be logged and signed off by an appropriate assessor to say they have completed the section.

A full list of ideas for activities for each section can be found on the DofE website: https://www.dofe.org/do/ideas/

Expedition Section

The final section is a three hour walking expedition for two days with overnight camping (where possible). An external provider called Mud and Maps co-ordinates the training and delivery of the expedition section for our students.

Students will learn basic first aid skills, how to read a map, plan a route for their walk, how to cook on a camping stove, pitch a tent and more.

The walking is carried out in walking groups and group members must help each other to carry shared kit, plan and follow their route etc. 

Why do the Bronze DofE Award?

The DofE Bronze Award is a nationally recognised award aiming to develop a variety of skills and independence in young people.  It has proven to improve mental health, widen participant’s understanding of their local community and push them to achieve.

"Achieving an Award will give you skills, confidence and an edge over others when you apply for college, university or a job. Beyond your academic achievements, universities want to see evidence of so called ‘soft skills’ that you have developed through extra-curricular activities, such as communication, commitment, leadership and teamwork. Your DofE Award is a fantastic way to demonstrate and evidence these skills in practice."

DofE

A wealth of information can be found on the DofE website – https://www.dofe.org/

Any students who have any questions about their award can speak to Mrs McDermott.