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Duke of Edinburgh's Award
At TWGSB we offer students the opportunity to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and we are very proud of the number of students who complete the awards every year. The Award has three levels, Bronze (Years 9 and 10), Silver (Year 12) and Gold (Year 12/13).
DofE Sections
There are four main sections of a DofE programme: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. At Gold participants will also complete a Residential section. The sections are as follows:
- Volunteering – the organisation you volunteer for must be non-profit making and have a community aspect. You will be giving time to help people, the community or society, the environment or animals. Click for ideas for your Volunteering section.
- Physical – you need to choose a sport, dance or fitness activity that requires a sustained level of energy and physical activity.
- Skills – you need to choose an activity (not a physical activity) that allows you to prove you have broadened your understanding and increased your expertise in your chosen skill. (Click here for an online cooking course.)
- Expedition
- Residential – Gold only
TWGSB advises on all sections, but is mainly concerned with tracking on eDofE and the Expedition section, which is run by outside providers. Students organise the activities they do for the Volunteering, Physical, Skill and Residential sections themselves. Click HERE for further information on the sections and see the downloads at the foot of this page for programme ideas. For queries on the DofE programme at TWGSB, please contact the school's DofE Coordinator, Mrs P Fedrick. To contact the Kent DofE team email DofE@kent.gov.uk.
Bronze
| Bronze Level | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteering | Physical | Skills | Expedition |
| 3 months | 3 months | 3 months | Plan, train for and complete a two-day, one-night expedition |
| All participants must undertake a further three months in the Volunteering, Physical or Skills section. | |||
Students enrol with the school and the tracking of all sections is managed by school. The Expedition section is run by The Swattenden Outdoor Centre (DofE@kent.gov.uk).
Silver
| Silver Level | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteering | Physical | Skills | Expedition |
| 6 months | One section for six months and the other section for three months | Plan, train for and complete a three-day, two-night expedition | |
| Direct entrants (i.e. those who didn't do Bronze) must undertake a further six months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills section. | |||
For the Silver Award, students can enrol with the school and we allow them to choose their Expedition provider from a list of DofE-recommended centres.
Although students generally sign up to take part in the Silver Award in Year 12 they can sign up once they have completed their Bronze award. Students do not have to have completed a Bronze Award to sign up for the Silver Award.
Gold
| Gold Level | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteering | Physical | Skills | Expedition | Residential |
| 12 months | One section for 12 months and the other section for six months | Plan, train for and complete a four-day, three-night expedition | Undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for five days and four nights | |
| Direct entrants (i.e. those who didn't do Silver) must undertake a further six months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills section. | ||||
For the Gold Award, students can enrol with the school and we allow them to choose their Expedition provider from a list of DofE-recommended centres.
Residential – Gold only
Students need to be aware that they must do a residential that does not include their own peer group. See programme ideas for the Residential section below and read the following guidelines before deciding on your activity:
- You must be away from home for a minimum of five days and four nights and must have identified an Assessor.
- There must be a specific, shared course or activity to broaden experiences and interests done with an organised group, registered charity or Approved Activity Provider (AAP).
- The group you are resident with should be unknown to you.
- Before the residential, you should carry out appropriate training, briefing or research.
- TWGSB must have approved the planned residential.
Expedition
The Expedition sections for Bronze, Silver and Gold are organised and run by outside providers. The length of each expedition depends upon the level: Bronze two days, Silver three days, Gold four days. Please be aware that in order to complete their Award, students must complete both the Practice and Assessed Expeditions.
For Bronze we use The Swattenden Outdoor Centre, which is run by Kent County Council and has an excellent reputation. The Bronze Expedition section comprises:
- Two training days
- A practice expedition
- An assessed expedition
eDofE
eDofE is the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award tracking facility, which has replaced the old record books:
- Login – it is important that you make a note of your login details. These will have been sent to the email address you used on your registration. For Bronze this will be your school e-mail address.
- Details – provide your contact details.
- Timescales – decide on the overall timescales. See Bronze, Silver or Gold for details.
- My DofE – click on the heading in the left-hand column and specify what you want to do for each section.
- Evidence – fill in your 'Keeping Track' booklet for each section. Make sure each section has both the participant's and assessor's comments and signatures, then scan in and submit each section for approval.
Once all sections have been approved, your DofE is considered complete and is submitted to the DofE Area Manager for final sign-off. Note: If you are completing your Gold Award and have not used eDofE to track your progress, you must also fill in a Gold Notification Form and return it to school.
Further Information
Mrs P Fedrick, DofE Coordinator at TWGSB
DofE programme ideas to download
