Duke of Edinburgh Award

What is the Duke of Edinburgh Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a national accreditation that aims to inspire and develop young people through volunteering, physical activity, and teamwork. Many colleges, universities, and employers highly value the qualification amongst young people.
 
In 2020-21 we are still running the DofE bronze for all students in year 10. The award has just been modified to make it possible for students to complete during the national lockdown.

What is different about the programme this year?

Just like on the regular Award, the Bronze DofE certificate has 3 sections:

1. Volunteering
2. Physical Activity
3. Skill

Students must do a minimum of 3 months activity for each of the Volunteering, Physical, and Skills sections. Students also must spend an extra three months on one of the Volunteering, Physical, or Skills sections. 
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In normal times, the award would also include two, weekend camping expeditions. Unfortunately, we are currently not able to run the expeditions due to COVID-19 restrictions. Fortunately, DofE have changed their requirements so that accreditation will not be contingent on students completing the expedition.

How do I get started?

All students in year 10 have been told about the certificate in their PSHCE lessons.
 
They were asked to bring back a signed consent form before Christmas. Once students have returned their parent/carer consent form, they will be enrolled on the eDofE platform and can start their skill, physical, and volunteering sections immediately.
 
Parents/carers can email in their consent whilst school is closed. Just send the name of the child you are giving permission for, your name, and an email explaining that you consent to them taking part in the Bronze DofE award to DofE@thomastallis.org.uk  
 
You can access a helpful guide to using the eDofE platform here.

What can I do for my volunteering when in lockdown?​

• Students can help a younger sibling with their remote learning
• Support a vulnerable neighbour or family member with regular shopping or well-being calls.
• More information about volunteering with family is available here.

·       Students can participate in an online volunteering project. For example, Zooniverse which enables people to remotely participate in research of all kinds, from classifying galaxies to counting penguins to transcribing manuscripts.
·       Missing Maps is an open, collaborative project in which people can help to map areas where humanitarian organisations are trying to meet the needs of vulnerable people.
·       There are loads more suggestions on the DofE website here.

What can I do for my skill in lockdown?​

• You could learn to cook, sew, knit, crochet, paint, draw, collage, calligraphy.
• You could take up photography, creative writing, arts and crafts.
• Learn to code, design video games, write a play or film.
• There are also lots of courses you can take online. Read more about these here.
• You can learn or practice a musical instrument, or join a virtual orchestra.

What can I do for my physical activity in lockdown?​

• You can continue with any sport you were doing before lockdown, if this is something you can carry on at home. For example, running, cycling, yoga, online exercise classes…
• You can take up a new activity or keep up your fitness and training for a team sport you regularly play, even if regular training session are currently cancelled. The DofE website has some advice for how to do this.

Who is my assessor and how do I get the award signed off?

For now, you just need to fill in what you plan to do for each of your sections and then get started. We recommend you keep a record of when you complete your activity each week, in a log book and if possible, take photos of what you do for your skill so that you have some evidence. Your assessor is an adult who can witness you do the activity each week. So if you are volunteering for a neighbour, then can be the assessor, or a sports coach or music teacher who you attend lessons or training session with (in person or online). If you are doing the activity at home then your parents can write a report for you at the end of the three or six months to say what you did and what you achieved or learnt, then Mr Wright or Miss Cooper can sign it off for you.

What if I already started an activity before lockdown that I cannot now do?

Any activity completed before the lockdown can still be used. Just keep a record of how long you did it for and when you had to stop. You can then start a new activity for that section during lockdown and it will all count towards your three or six months. You can just enter the change of activity on your eDofE account.

How long and how often do I have to do the activity?

You can choose which of the three sections you want to do for six months. The other two will need to be completed for three months. Ideally, you should complete each of your three activities once a week for about 45 minutes to an hour. If that is unrealistic for the activity you have chosen, please speak to either Mr Wright or Miss Cooper as it might be possible for you to do it for longer periods, less often.

Can I backdate my activities?

If you are already completing the activity, you will be able to backdate it on the eDofE system. So if you are already a keen runner and you want to include some of your running over the past month, you can do this.
 
However, it will only allow you to go back as far as the date you were added to signed up for the award.
 
If you returned your consent form before Christmas, you should be able to backdate from December. If you sent your form in later, you might only be able to start counting your activity from January. It will be clear on eDofE how far back it will allow you to go. If in doubt, start counting from when you first logged into your online eDofE account.

Will there be an expedition?

For now, we are unable to run an expedition this year (2020-21). The Duke of Edinburgh Award have recognised that it will be difficult to run these during the pandemic, so have introduced the new Certificate so that you can still get a DofE award, even without the expedition. Completing the certificate will still allow you to move onto your Silver award if you wish.

Where can I get more information about the DofE?

If you are stuck on what activities to do for your certificate or just want more information about the award there is lots more information on the DofE website, under their DofE with a Difference section.
 
Speak to Mr Wright or Miss Cooper if you have any further questions not answered here.

​Or email DofE@thomastallis.org.uk.