During assemblies this week pupils in S3 – S6 have received information about the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the benefits of achieving an Award. The Award provides young people with the chance to develop skills for work and life, and in many cases it provides formal recognition of the activities they already undertake outside school. This recognition is particularly advantageous when pupils are applying for jobs, apprenticeships and Further Education courses at college or university.
To complete the Award, young people have to complete a personalised programme of activities in four different sections (five sections at Gold) – Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and for Gold, a Residential. There is a great degree of flexibility in what activities participants can do for each section but they should, prior to starting the Award, check with staff at school to ensure that their choices meet the Award’s requirements.
For the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections, young people must commit one hour per week to each of their chosen activities. For the Expedition section, students are required to plan, train for and complete an expedition of between 2 and 4 days (the length of which varies depending on which level of the award the young person is doing). To help ensure that these expeditions are as safe and enjoyable as possible, it is important that young people attend the training sessions regularly – the details of which are in the attached letter.
The Award is designed to give all young people a sense of achievement by encouraging them to learn new skills, meet new people and experience adventure. This means that there is a great deal of support available for young people who feel that there are barriers preventing them from participating in the Award – whatever those barriers may be.
For more information, or activity ideas, please visit The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award website at http://www.dofe.org/
If you have any further questions, or to return your enrolment forms, please see Mr Willox or Mr Donald.