Here’s a quick update on how our Bronze and Silver students are progressing with their DofE award.
Skills
Both groups are well on their way to completing the skills section, and will be demonstrating their First Aid skills and knowledge at the end of term to their other year group bubble Crews at a mini Presentation of Learning event (hopefully they’ll not have to use their skills in ‘real life’ anytime soon!)
Volunteering
Students are also about to start work on their volunteering section, where they will be undertaking various school community service activities, such as litter picking. In addition to this, all Crews have chosen a charity to support this year. There would usually be various fund raising activities planned across the year, but CV19 restrictions mean that this is going to be a bit of a challenge as they can’t do the usual things like bake sales, etc. But we’ll do what we can!
DofE aside, we as a school think it’s very important to support our wider community, so Silver students across both schools will be collecting items for Christmas Food Hampers, to be donated to our local food bank. They’ll also be designing/sending Christmas cards to local care homes. These activities will be done during Crew’s Mindful Monday sessions.
Physical
We are more than aware that many out of school clubs that would usually count towards the physical section have been disrupted. Students will still be able to submit evidence of what they’ve done so far, and we will support them by providing in-school activities so that everyone is able to complete this section.
Expedition
We are hopeful that we will be able to run the outdoor expeditions next year, depending on the situation and national restrictions in place at the time. The DofE have made changes to the qualifying criteria meaning that participants will be able to gain the full award without the need for overnight stays, and hikes will probably start and finish at school. The Expedition Team are excited to start planning and exploring some local walking routes!
That’s all for now, but if you have any questions about the temporary adjustments to the Bronze and Silver awards please visit the DofE website or contact [email protected] (Outdoor Expeditions Lead) or [email protected] (DofE Activities Coordinator)
Thank you.