DofE silver rules

[Oblomov18]

Just wondering if someone could explain to me the rules of Duke of Edinburgh silver, if you are starting a new and haven't completed bronze.

I have searched but cannot find the rules.
DS1 is volunteering in 2 places, including a charity shop, so volunteering is fine.
Thinking of training to be a football referee for skills, so that part would be ok?

regards the physical part, this is the problem.
he, last week, stopped playing for a football, having played for them for 4 years.

so I can't see why this couldn't be used for his physical part? 3 months surely? Even though he's just finished?

Head of DofE for his school said no!
But why?

[titchy]

Because you have to set yourself a goal or goals that you'd like to achieve before you start each bit, and your assessor has to agree those goals with you at the beginning. You can't do that in retrospect.

[Oblomov18]

Oh. Thank you. I didn't realise that.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

You are allowed to partially back date one element iirc but not the whole thing. Why doesn't he do something simple or personal, it doesn't need to be a team sport. If there is nothing in particular he wants to try, he could do running using a mapping thing to evidence his progress, he could aim to do a 10k or something as his target. One of mine went to the gym to increase general fitness.

[Oblomov18]

Yes thank you. He already goes to the gym and suggested that, going forward.

I just assumed he could use his football team retroactively. Obviously not.

[Oblomov18]

Retrospectively.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

He could possibly use some of his attendance at the gym so far as long as he is setting a target to achieve after his DofE effective start date, but again that would be down to the agreement of his supervisor as well.

[Oblomov18]

Thank you.

[Oblomov18]

Actually. Would you all mind if I ask something else.
He needs to do:
3mths of one
6mths of another
12mths of a different one.

This is because he's starting silver anew, not having done bronze.

So, volunteering for a year is best?

Does it need to be the same volunteer place for 12 mths? Is the year bit, the key here?

Or can he volunteer in two different places, at the same time, for 6 mths each.

Is it longevity and long term commitment, for 52 weeks that needs to be proved here?
Or would an hour on a twice a week at 2 different places, for 26 weeks, be enough to show commitment?

[RedSkyLastNight]

He has to do the 52 weeks. More than 1 hour a week doesn't count.
This does make the volunteering section harder as volunteering you carry out less frequently but for more hours is not sufficient (DS was keen on conservation work, but where we are it would be a full day commitment every 3 or 4 weeks so it would have taken him ages to clock up the required number of weeks, and the fact he was doing it all day didn't give him extra credit).

[Oblomov18]

Thanks RedSky.
I think that's too tough, too stringent, that their guidelines are a bit too unaccommodating!
But what the heck, what can I do.

[titchy]

That's kind of the point of it....

[WaxOnFeckOff]

To be honest it doesn't sound like either of you are particularly committed to it. It's not supposed to be easy, it's not about getting a certificate or something to put on your UCAS form or CV. It's about showing commitment to your community and yourself and growing and developing as a person and it's supposed to be challenging enough to be an actual achievement that they can be proud of. Different people will struggle with some elements and find others easy, that's why there are different bits to it

[redredrobins]

The idea behind DofE is for the young person to learn self reliance, confidence and how to be organised. It is also to show commitment to completing a activity they have started, all things to help them become well rounded adults. The commitment to Silver DofE is longer because they have not had to spend time doing Bronze.
The problem with some schools and some parents is trying to organise everything for the child, by all means help them, but the majority of effort should be by the child, in organising as well as doing the activities.
Prince Edward described DofE as a DIY kit to growing up, which is the whole point.

[redredrobins]

Sorry, forgot to say your child should have access to the DofE handbook which explains the rules very clearly.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Maybe it's tailoring it to his interests. If he is keen to do the refereeing, how long will that take? he could do that for the year and cut the volunteering to 6 months. If he wants to carry on and do Gold then he could provide volunteer referee services as part of his volunteering or help coach a younger team.

^A Silver DofE programme has 4 sections, Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. You need to do at least 6 months Volunteering and a minimum of 6 months on either Physical or Skills and 3 months on the other. It’s up to you which one you do for longer.
If you did Bronze, you can choose the same activity for Silver, but you need to show development in it. It’s best to try something new!
The Expedition section involves planning, training for and doing a 3 day (2 night) expedition (plus a practice expedition).
If you start your Silver without doing Bronze first you’ll have to do an extra 6 months volunteering or doing whichever of the Physical or Skills sections you have spent more time on. Though you can change your mind later, you should decide which section you want to do for longer at the beginning. Knowing how long you’re going to do it for will help you to choose your activity and set your goals for each section.^

So, he could do 6 months volunteering and a year doing his skill or physical and 3 months doing the other. I'd start with how long the refereeing might take and work from there.

For the skills section, my DSs both did lifeguard training for Bronze, DS1 did an OU on-line course in learning to manage finances for Silver and DS2 took guitar lessons, They both did Driving for Gold. For the physical they did a range of after school badminton club, attending the youth session at the gym, doing Couch to 10k and Judo. Volunteering was all done in the scouts as a young leader but progressing to different levels of children and different levels of involvement from just helping with activities to helping plan the term programme and running an evening/camp.

[MaisyPops]

redredrobins
Spot on. It's a programme requiring independence, resilience and organisation.
It's not meant to be an easy thing to slot in when convenient.

The students and parents who are it as a box to tick for their uni applications and complain about how limiting / inconvenient / unfair the programme is (despite the guidelines being clear) tend to be the ones who get less out of the programme.

[capercaillie]

I’m a DofE leader - well done for starting at Silver.

Re the volunteering - if he does want to change the activity and do different ones for 6 months, then he needs to agree that with leader. I would tend to agree it but depends on individual and the quality of what’s being proposed.

Red sky - It’s not true that it’s the number of weeks overall. I’ve had several do conservation for a day but only once a month. That’s only recommended for higher levels but again down to discretion of DofE leader and I always look at what young person is getting out of it. Some DofE leaders interpret the rules too rigidly.