Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme

Introduction

When students are in Year 10 they are offered the opportunity to sign up for the Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze Award. Places are limited, but so far we have managed to stretch our resources to avoid turning people down. It is an excellent award, requiring the completion of four sections; physical, skill, service and expedition. Details of these sections can be found on the official D of E website at http://www.theaward.org

What can the school offer?

We are able to complete the expedition section with the students, and can usually also offer them either a first aid course or fire training course for their service section. The rest of the award needs to be completed by students in their own time. It is expected that they will make their own arrangements for this although we are more than happy to offer advice.

What is the staffing?

D of E requires groups sized between 4 and 7 students for expeditions, with one BETA qualified member of staff per group. We have a number of staff who hold this qualification, as well as some trusted friends of the school who are able to help out. Though the required ratio is good, we always exceed the minimum to ensure that the students are well supervised whilst off site.

What is the cost?

To enrol on the award costs £11 which goes directly to Southampton D of E to cover insurance and administration. In addition to this, a £60 fee paid to The Gregg School covers camp-site fees and enables us to provide some of the more expensive equipment required.

What are the expectations?

A main emphasis of the award is the development of responsibility. For this reason, other than the initial letter, all our correspondence regarding arrangements is directed towards the students. It is their responsibility to ensure that parents are kept informed of the things they need to know. However, we do ask that parents sign the equipment disclaimer as we have spent a lot of money on tents, stoves etc and need to know that they will be well cared for. Copies of this disclaimer and all letters, lists and so on can be found by clicking on the links below.

We now operate a card system to emphasis the importance of attendance at meetings, punctuality and good behaviour. Failure to attend a meeting without prior arrangement will result in a yellow card, as will failure to hand route cards and other paperwork in on time. Should a student get two yellow cards, they will be asked to leave the course. They may, if they wish to, find a group outside school with which to complete the award.

What equipment does school provide?

Over the last few years we have tried to purchase the more expensive kit needed for an expedition. We now have enough tents and trangias (stove kits) for all groups. We have a number of rucksacks although these need to be booked to ensure availability. We are also looking at getting some bedding mats to lend to students.

Personal kit such as walking boots and sleeping bags really cannot be loaned out. Both of these items would be a good investment for students keen to do some walking and camping, and though expensive should last for some years if treated well.

All students were provided with an OS map of the New Forest when they were in Year 7, and this will be needed for their expedition. Other inexpensive items such as compasses will, again, be a good investment. A full kit list can be found on the link below.

What are the times and dates of the expeditions?

We run two training sessions in the summer term. The final expedition takes place in the September of Year 11. As all paper work for the final expedition has to be sent to the assessors 8 weeks prior to the event, we have to have it well before the end of the summer term.

1st practice - 10th/11th May 2008

2nd practice - 14/15 June 2007

Final expedition - 27/28 September 2008

Students need to be at school at 10am for the practices, and by 9:15 for the final expedition. We aim to be back at around 3pm on the practice weekends and 4pm on the final.

For all three expeditions, the pick-up time is subject to change, and we would ask that students ensure that they can contact parents to save unnecessary waiting at school - neither parents nor teachers like to be kept hanging around!

Links to Letters and Forms

All the letters and forms that have been sent out can be downloaded here as Word documents: