Duke of Edinburgh Award
The Duke of Edinburgh Award is open to Year 10 students as an extracurricular activity. For a small invited group it is also offered as a curriculum option, meaning that the majority of activities are completed in school time. We currently offer the Bronze award in Year 10 and Silver in Year 11.
- Volunteering. This may be helping a charity, doing some shopping for an elderly neighbour or helping at a children’s play group. Students at Hadleigh High School have helped run after school clubs at primary schools, as well as worked in local charity shops. An average of 1 hour per week should be spent on this section which lasts for 6 months.
- Learning a new skill, and showing improvement along the way. This can include learning an instrument, drawing, model making or photography. Students at Hadleigh High School have developed skills in cooking, playing in a band and studying other languages. An average of 1 hour per week should be spent on this section which lasts for 3 months.
- Developing physical abilities. This involves taking part in a programme of set physical activities and showing improvement throughout. The activity could be either a team sport or an individual sport. Students at Hadleigh High School have done cycling, martial arts and basketball. An average of 1 hour per week should be spent on this section and, again, this lasts for 3 months.
- Expedition. Participants are expected to take part in a practice and an assessed expedition which involves walking approximately 24 km along public footpaths using a map and compass. Each expedition also includes overnight camping along the route. Participants carry all of their kit and are expected to cook a meal using approved camping stoves. Previous expeditions have taken participants to different areas of the Peak District.
One of the overriding principles of the award is that participants are responsible for their progress throughout. Whilst the school will assist the students, it is they who decide on the activities for the first three sections and when it comes to planning the expeditions, they prepare the routes and consider the practicalities. A DofE Award demonstrates not only a positive willingness to participate in the various sections, but also valuable qualities of responsibility and organisation. As participants undertake their activities they record their progress on their profile on the DofE website where it is then approved by their assessor.
Upon completion of the award, participants keen to further develop their skills and attributes can decide to progress to do the Silver and then Gold levels if they wish.
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More information can be found on the following website:
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