DofE
Last year’s participation
In year’s 12 & 13
74
Bronze
43
Silver
74
Gold
There are four elements to complete at bronze and silver level: volunteering by helping the community or environment, learning a new skill or improving on an existing skill, keeping fit by completing a physical activity and planning, training for and completing an expedition. For students on the gold award, they must also undertake a residential section (5days, 4nights)
Academy staff run all meetings and supervise expeditions; this enables us to keep costs as low as possible. There is also financial support available to pupil premium students and bursary students (Gold Award). Meetings for each level will run on two different days to avoid clashes with pre-existing commitments the students may have. These run between 3.20 and 4.15 p.m on the allotted days. Some Gold meetings also run during tutor time 8.35 – 9.15 a.m.
Prior to a launch, students will all receive a PowerPoint outlining what is involved, and an information letter is sent to all parents in each respective year group. Introductory meetings help students who have no previous experience of the award to make choices about their programme, set goals and administer their award on the edofe website.
When an award is launched, the timetable is given in more detail. The dates of the qualifying expeditions are released before the end of the summer term. Depending on the size of the cohort, the expedition might be split across two dates. This is an outline how the awards fit together.
Bronze Award: Year 9 – Year 10
| Year 9 | |
| Launch | December |
| Registration | January |
| Introductory meetings | Jan – Feb |
| Expedition training meetings | Apr – Jun |
| Year 10 | |
| Final preparation and Qualifying expeditions (2 days, 1night – Rutland) | Sept / Oct |
| Presentation of awards | November |
Silver Award: Year 10 – Year 11
| Year 10 | |
| Launch | December |
| Registration | January |
| Meetings | Jan – Apr |
| Practice expedition | Apr |
| Year 11 | |
| Final preparation and Qualifying expedition (2 days, 2 nights – White Peak East) | Sept / Oct |
| Presentation of awards | February |
Gold Award: Year 12 – Year 13
| Year 12 | |
| Launch | October |
| Registration | October |
| Meetings | Nov – May |
| Training expeditions (2 days, 1 night – Dark Peak) | March |
| Practice expeditions (4 days, 4 nights – North Yorkshire Dales) | July |
| Year 13 | |
| Expedition planning | Nov – Feb |
| Qualifying expeditions (5 days, 4 nights – Lake District / Snowdonia) | Easter / June |
| Presentation of awards upon completion: St James Palace / Buckingham Palace / Holyrood Palace | |
The cost of each scheme is to cover the purchase of a place, a contribution towards the licence to run the award, consumables, expedition equipment for borrowing and running the expeditions ( but not food). This is set at the launch date.
For comparison last years’ cohorts were as follows: Bronze £92.50, Silver £162.50 and Gold £180 (year 1 training + practice expeditions) plus the cost of the Qualifying expedition which varies dependant upon numbers and locations (£135 last year)
Last year’s cohorts had 74 Bronze, 43 Silver, and 74 Gold participants across years 12 and 13.
There is a wealth of information available online regarding how the award scheme runs and help for students during their award.
DofE – The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
If you have any queries regarding the award scheme at Robert Smyth Academy, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Cripwell on mcripwell@robertsmyth.tgacademy.org.uk