Duke of Edinburgh's Award

Volunteering is all about helping others and making a difference to the causes young people care about. A volunteer placement must be for a group in need or a charity. In the past, students have volunteered with the school library, Rainbows, Beavers, sports clubs, primary school after school clubs and even through online projects. 

The physical section is all about improving health and fitness, and having fun along the way! There are many opportunities to join sporting activities through Sheldon PE clubs, out of school sports clubs, fitness classes or by using online fitness trackers to help you achieve your goals. For example, if you picked running as your skill, you could use an app to help track your progress over time.

Part of the challenge of DofE is developing existing skills or discovering new things to love. This may include cooking and baking, learning a new language, playing a musical instrument, sewing, knitting, art or even attending an afterschool course such as Sheldon's GCSE Film Studies course in Year 9 or Further Maths (this only applies to course done outside the normal school day).

The expedition is all about spending time in the great outdoors and creating lifelong memories. Sheldon helps organise the expedition and training days. It is essential that students attend all meetings and training sessions for the expedition. The expedition component is different for each award level, but it always involves walking with a group of around 7 other students through stunning locations in the UK.

Group kit is provided at all levels, including tents trangias, maps and compasses. Participants will need to provide their own waterproofs, rucksack, walking boots and sleeping bag. Further details of what is needed for the expedition will be circulated to participants along with a discount card for outdoor stores. Sheldon has a limited supply of kit items that we can loan out as needed.

Option 1

Use the assessor cards in your welcome pack. Ensure you complete the top section of your card first; Name, ID number (found on your edofe account), Level (gold/silver/bronze), Description of activity, dates (ensure these cover your time frame), goals.

Hand the card to your assessor to complete and return to you.

Take a photo of the card - ensure it is clear and fills the whole frame of the photo. Upload the photo to your edofe account and mark as an assessor report.

Option 2

Contact your assessor via email for them to complete a report online, you could use the following template:

Dear XXXXXX,

Thank you for agreeing to be my assessor for my physical/skill/volunteering (delete as appropriate) section. You can complete the report by going to this website https://www.dofe.org/assessor

You will need the following information:

• My full name
• My ID number 
• Level (Bronze / Silver / Gold - delete all but your level)
• Section being assessed (Volunteering/Physical/Skills/Residential - delete all but your section)
• Date started   
• Date ended (check the duration is long enough)

You will then need to describe my achievements, how I met my goals, the skills I developed and any mention any memorable things I accomplished.

Thank you again for being my assessor.

(Sign your name)

Things to remember

1. You should discuss your goals with your assessor before you start.
2. Your assessor must be an adult who is not related to you.
3. Ideally your assessor is a coach/teacher/scout leader/organiser of the activity you have been doing.
4. If you have been doing an activity at home it is a good idea to ask your tutor at school or a relevant teacher to assess you. You will need to update them with evidence of what you have been doing throughout your time so they are able to write a good report.

Along with your physical challenge, it is a good idea to practice walking with a full ruck sack and to start doing leg strengthening exercises. Ms Langdon will send suggested activities out to participants to get expedition ready.