Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
The Duke of Edinburgh’s ( D of E) Award allows all young people to develop skills for work and life, to fulfil their potential and have a brighter future. Participants develop an individual programme of activities which is personally challenging and focused on their interests. The expedition enables pupils to develop team working, navigation and campcraft skills, while becoming young people with the initiative, independence and perseverance to succeed.
Through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award we support the school’s mission statement by:
- Stimulating participants’ social awareness and concern for all members of society through voluntary work.
- Developing participants’ self-confidence, through the identification and completion of a programme of personalised activities, which are linked to individual targets.
- Developing participants’ ability to take responsibility for their actions and activities, as the D of E Award requires participants to manage the organisation, completion and recording of activities.
- Challenging perseverance’ to try new activities and complete the expedition section. Through this they develop team work skills, a sense of initiative and perseverance and an appreciation of the need to make realistic expectations of others, supporting their peers to achieve shared goals.
- Developing participants’ life skills and enabling them to recognise the importance of hard work and perseverance in ensuring personal success.
- Ensuring that participants have a phenomenal sense of enthusiasm and achievement both throughout and upon completion of the D of E Award.
The Towers offers the opportunity for pupils in year 10 to complete the Bronze D of E Award. This is the first level and is a nationally recognised qualification, as well as providing a strong foundation for participants to move onto the Silver and Gold Awards at another Centre.
The Bronze D of E Award consists of four sections: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. Taken as a whole these providethe opportunity to complete a broad and balanced programme.
Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections
Participants select activities to complete in the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections, supported by advice from staff. Participants are responsible for arranging the activity and an appropriate assessor (e.g. a music teacher, youth group leader or sports coach). There are a huge range of possible activities which can be undertaken in each section – suggestions and further information are available from http://www.dofe.org/.
Participants set a challenging goal for each section and work with the support of an appropriate assessor to achieve their aim. Two sections are completed for three months and one section for six months, with a time commitment of an hour per week. Through this participants develop the ability to commit to an activity and have the opportunity to demonstrate progression.
Expedition SectionThe expedition is fantastic fun and often the most memorable part of a participant’s D of E experience. It is challenging and a significant time commitment, as participants require extensive training and practice in order to be able to complete the qualifying expedition. The Towers qualifying expedition takes place towards the end of the Summer Term and consists of two days walking and two nights camping (only one of which is assessed) in Ashdown Forest.
Participants work in teams of five to seven when completing the expedition section, which are established in the Christmas Term to allow them to develop strong team work skills and an appreciation of each others’ strengths. Training consists of weekly after school sessions which cover: team building; navigation skills; equipment; route planning; camp craft and first aid. Additionally there are a series of practice walks and camps at weekends throughout the year. Participants complete the qualifying expedition under remote supervision – this means that they meet staff at checkpoints but walk without an adult. Groups are assessed on the practice expedition and must be deemed competent in order to proceed to the qualifying expedition. It is therefore vital that participants attend training sessions in order to develop the skills required to complete a safe and successful expedition.
Organisation at The TowersThe D of E Award is coordinated by Mrs Finn and Miss Pope, who can be contacted via the school office. A large number of school staff and external volunteers contribute time and expertise to ensure the successful running of the Award for participants.
Parents and pupils are invited to an ‘Introduction to the D of E’ evening in the Summer Term of year nine, where the Award structure is explained in detail and questions can be answered by staff. We ask that registration forms and payments are handed in before the end of the academic year, so that participants can begin their activities promptly in September. A payment is required from participants to cover the cost of: registration for the D of E Award; campsite charges; transport; maintenance and periodic replacement of group equipment, e.g. tents and stoves; fuel for stoves; maps and training materials. Participants will also require some personal equipment – this will be explained by staff at the introduction evening and guidance is provided to pupils during training sessions.
We are very grateful to the PTA who have made generous donations to support the purchase of some vital group equipment.
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