What is the Duke of Edinburgh Award?

The DofE is a fantastic award that challenges and inspires many young people between the ages of 14 – 24 years.

It is made up of 4 sections;

Volunteering
Skills
Physical
Expedition

In 2009 Hamstead Hall delivered its first ever Duke of Edinburgh award with just 21 students. It now averages 120 students a year across the three different levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold). All students in keys stages 4 and 5 have the option to take part in the award and it will run alongside the activities that you study in PE.

Why take part?

The DofE award is an adventure from start to finish.

You will work with as an individual and with other people and so you learn to become organised and patient with others. You will learn how to communicate with others and co-operate effectively to achieve. During the expedition there will be massive highs and lows mentally and you will have to manage these emotions and prove that you have the resilience to not give in.

It is a great thing to add onto your Curriculum Vitae showing that you have taken part in something outside of lessons. It is even better to show teachers, college lecturers and employers that you have stuck at something and completed it even when it became a little difficult.

What next?

In year 9 you will be introduced to the award.

This usually happens in an assembly. If you like the sound of the award and you are up for the challenge then you will have to apply and enrol. It will cost to take part in the award and these are outlined:

Enrolment
£40 (or £50 at Gold)

Practice expedition
£35 - £45

Qualifying Expedition
£35 - £45

To keep costs down Hamstead Hall will rent out some of the equipment required at a minimal charge.

Do you have the resilience to take part in the award?

Key Information 

From the moment you are enrolled on the DofE award you will need to think about the different activities that you would like to take part in. Some ideas can be found here:

Volunteering

Physical

Skills

Once you have decided log into your eDofE account and let your leader know what you are planning on doing by filling in your programme planners. If you cannot log in for any reason let your leader know and they will log you in.

You need to ensure that you work to completing your different DofE sections by dedicating 1 hour per week to them. After this time you will need to ask your assessor to fill in an assessor report and then upload it to your DofE account. Without this you cannot complete your award. Spare assessor reports can be found by clicking the links below.

Expedition

Prior to your expedition you will have received all of the information that you need to be successful. You will have planned your route with the rest of your group and you should be familiar with it.

When you receive your letter there will be a number of deadlines for you to meet. If you fail to meet any of these then you will run the risk of being removed from the expedition.

After completing your expedition, your leader will provide an assessors report to record how you performed. This will also need to be recorded on your eDofE account.

Good luck.

For more information see our check out the Official Duke of Edinburgh Website.