Extra-Curricular

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

What is Duke of Edinburgh's Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a nationally recognised scheme for young people aged 14-25 and gives them an opportunity to contribute to their community, to become physically active, to learn a new skill and to experience the outdoors, in a new part of the world.

What does the Award Involve?

  • VolunteeringThis involves giving up an hour a week to support a local community and can be anything from mentoring to litter picking.
  • PhysicalThis involves giving up an hour a week to devote to a physical activity which is usually focussed around sports e.g. football or swimming.
  • SkillThis involves gaining a skill that can be used later in life, such as learning to cook a meal or to play a musical instrument.
  • Expedition (also Residential for the Gold Award).Participants are given the opportunity to learn vital camp craft skills, such as tent building and cooking a meal on a camp stove, as well as experiencing walking an assessed route. They take part in a series of journeyed routes that they themselves will design. Journeying can be on foot, bicycle, boat, canoe or kayak or wheelchair. They complete a training walk introducing them to cartographic skills they will need to complete the award and a Practise Expedition, which mimics the final Assessed Expedition. Each award has an expedition has a progressively longer timescale. The final part of the expedition section, is to complete an independently planned route, without any direct adult supervision, assessed and monitored by a Duke of Edinburgh Award Assessor. The assessor evaluates the participants and delivers their result at the end of the expedition.

Bronze

We offer this to students in year 9

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Bronze

Year 9, who devote 3 months to volunteering, physical and skill sections as well as an additional 3 months to either volunteering, physical or skill. There is also a 2 day/1 night expedition section where they will undertake 6 hour journeying during the daytime and one night camping.

  • Volunteering section: 3 months
  • Physical section: 3 months
  • Skill section: 3 months
  • Expedition section: 2 days/1 night
  • You also have to do 3 more months in one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skill sections.

                                                                                              

Silver

We offer this to students in year 10

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Silver

Year 10, who have successfully completed the Bronze Award.  The timescale involves 6 months devoted to volunteering, physical and skill sections as well as an additional 3 months to either physical or skill. There is also an expedition involving 3 days of journeying for 7 hours each day and 2 nights of camping.

  • Volunteering section: 6 months
  • Physical and Skill sections: One section for 6 months and the other section for 3 months
  • Expedition section: 3 days/2 nights
  • If you didn’t do Bronze, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skill sections.

Gold

We offer this to students in year 12

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Gold

Year 12, who have successfully completed the Silver Award.  The timescale involves 12 months devoted to volunteering, 6 months devoted to physical and skill sections as well as an additional 6 months to either physical or skill. There may be a chance for participants to take the Direct Gold, in which case they will need to add an additional 6 months on either of their longest 12 month sections. The expeditions will be 4 days journeying for a minimum 8 hours each day and 3 nights of camping.

There is an additional, independently arranged, Residential Section requiring participants to undertake a shared activity, away from home, for 4 nights and 5 days.                                                      

The Opportunity-finder can help participants find a residential placement.

  1. Volunteering section: 12 months
  2. Physical and Skill sections: One section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months
  3. Expedition section: 4 days/3 nights
  4. Residential section: Undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.
  5. If you didn’t do Silver, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skill sections.

Downloads

Further information about the Duke of Edinburgh Award can be found on their  website.