Duke of Edinburgh (DofE)
To download the app click here
Instructions of how to use the app click here
About the DofE
The 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 help improve 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 university or jobs.
To achieve their Bronze 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, click here for some ideas. We will supply guidance and support. Students can either choose to continue an activity they already do or discover something completely new.
Activities for each section take a minimum of one hour a week over a 3 to 6 month period, so they can fit around studying, hobbies and social lives. For more details about programmes and timescales visit Do DofE – The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
About the Expedition
The Expedition section involves your child working as part of a small team to plan their Expedition’s aim, choose a location and do some training to make sure they’re fully prepared – before spending two days and one night in the countryside, this will take place between April and June.
Ahead of this, they will take part in an overnight practice expedition and out of school sessions covering basic Expedition principles and introducing them to Expedition equipment. There will also be several training sessions, after school, in which your child and their group will plan their route and prepare. Participants will only be able to do their Expedition if they attend the organised training.
eDofE and the DofE app
Participants can create their DofE programme and record their progress using eDofE, the DofE’s digital system, available online at eDofE.org and through the DofE app – downloadable for free from Google Play and the App Store. If your child decides to enrol, we will set up their eDofE account and they will receive details of how to sign in and get started.
Signing up and costs
The cost of signing up to the DofE is a one off, non-refundable payment of £25.50 per participant. This covers your child’s participation place and Welcome Pack, which will be sent to their home address and includes their personalised DofE Discount Card (which generally gives around a 15% discount off items participants usually require in most outdoor stores).
There will also be added costs for the expedition section of the award and for the buying of equipment for the expedition. The exact costings of this will be given to you in due course, but as an estimate last year’s costing for the expedition section was £200 plus extra for equipment. However, as a school and a cohort, we will be running some fundraising opportunities throughout the year to bring this cost down. We recognise that families may fall on hard times occasionally but may not be in receipt of FSM or PP funding. In these cases, the school may be able to offer some support, please contact the finance office for further information. There is also some equipment that can be borrowed from school. When we have a secured cost for the Expedition, we will confirm this with all the students and yourselves.
If your child would like to take part, please pay the enrolment fee on parent pay and complete the participant enrolment form and hand it into Student Reception by Monday 3 July 2023.
To download the enrolment form please click here
