If your ds is doing the bronze DOE

DS (15) has just finished his Bronze.

He did badminton as his physical; learned the sax from scratch for a year; is a Young Leader in his younger DB's Scout troop as his volunteering.

I think it was all worthwhile; it got DS out of the house; made him get organised to a certain extent, and I think he quite liked the two overnight trips to the forest!

A lot of employers like seeing Gold DofE on a CV as it shows the applicant has had to "get off their backsides and do something extra" as one phrased it to me. Doesn't count for anything/very much in a uni application IME though.

In terms of activities - my DDs have used things which they were already doing (music lessons/sports activities/an academic residential course), but extended them with eg a sports coaching qualification, or taking up a new instrument, or volunteering at a school club.

DD2 will be starting a leadership qualification with Girl Guiding UK as her volunteering for Gold (after volunteered at Brownie packs for Bronze and Silver - we're hoping that it's a different enough focus to get past the "you can't do the same thing for all three sections").

School's advice when deciding if something was a skill or a physical activity was that if it made you hot and sweaty, it was a physical activity. Each DC needs to get their choices approved by the school before they start though.

The only thing which has been laid on by school (and even then, only a bit) has been the expeditions and training. But we've been getting 200 or so DC starting bronze each year, and I think there were around 80 who completed the silver expedition in the summer, so it's not surprising that the school take a pretty active lead in the logistics of where and when to go, and booking the campsites/coaches.

Do check the list of skills/physical activities on the DofE website as you are restricted to what can fit into one or the other - decided by DofE so if Karate is listed as a physical it can't be used as a skill etc.

I would also point out you are supposed to do things which are out of your school lessons so using work for GCSE Computing as your skill wouldn't be counted at my school. You can however do something supplementary to your GCSE course and ask the teacher to assess. (Depends on strictness of school to some extent - we don't allow it which is the DofE stand point)

Students at my school have done, Cooking, Sign language, Gardening - set up an allotment, Languages, Musical instrument, Creative Writing, Drama and Theatre Skills, Comp Game Design in Extra curricular IT club, Jewellery making, Art, D&T Club at school - built a go kart, photography.

www.dofe.org/en/content/cms/doing-your-dofe/activities-sections/

Down the side of this page each section will give some the list of activities which might inspire him.

DD1 really benefitted from DofE.

She found the expedition really tough. She is petite and not naturally active so physically it was very hard for her. But more importantly she learned team working skills. In particular how to achieve even with people she wouldn't normally mix with, how to get your voice heard when you are being ignored, and how to persevere even through adversity.

Yes we used ice-skating as the carrot to encourage her to do it, but she got a lot of 'personal growth' out of the whole experience.

I'm not expecting it to help with job, uni or college applications, except that it gives her something to talk about if asked about persevering, team working etc. But it has helped her as a person.

Isn't the idea that they come up with something to challenge themselves, start something new, etc, rather than just finding something they already do and fitting it in and making it count, or getting something sorted out at school, which is what a lot of people seem to do these days (of course it can be quite properly possible to use something they already do, if they are really into the hobby and working at it and it is a challenge, but I teach several pupils who just seem to be thinking "oh, I could just use xx hobby that I sort of half=heartedly started one time and my brother-in-law can sign off that I did enough of it as he does that hobby/sport, because I can't be bothered with the hassle of learning something that I'm actually interested in because of the time, effort, required to get there, organise it and so on", etc.) They might end up doing things enough to pass the requirements, but there seems to be much less of the idea of challenging themselves as a bit of personal development, really making an effort, taking initiative, finding time for it all, etc, which is what I thought the real value of the award was - I think it's the decline of that, not the fact that so many people have it, that has led to the fact it's not taken as much notice of now. So many people do it at school, but as a result, they expect to have so much laid on for them, that it doesn't show the same initiative or personal challenge any more. I hope that is only the experience of the few I know who do it through schools where they are pretty much expected to do it. In other places where it's more of a choice, that perhaps doesn't happen.

DofE is a great thing to do- but please don't encourage your kids to do it because you think it will help with University applications. It won't.

BTW the value of D of E should not be CV points, but personal growth, and doing something outside your comfort zone. My DD struggled a bit with the service as it wasn't something she would naturally do.

You have to do: Physical, Service and Skill as well as the expedition. And for Gold you have to do a residential too.

DS did his last year, he's doing GCSE computer science and was able to do a coding project which counted for both.

Could he improve his cardio fitness by going running as his physical and use karate as his skill? He only has to go running twice a week for 3 months & he can do karate as the 6 month component. To demonstrate improvement he can time himself now & at the end.

I am a bit negative about D of E,I am afraid. My DDs did it but I am really not sure of its value. A friend's DD did the Gold and despite predicted A levels of AAA, got no offers from any University at all to read English. I am just wondering these days, who cares if they have it or not?

Having said that, just doing Karate sounds a bit thin. Could he help out at a younger class at Karate. My DD did this with ballet. I thought mine did community and a skill however. Could he do karate as the skill and ask if there is another category rather than physical? Mine definitely did not do physical.

I remember making waterproof covers for my rucksack and sleeping bag. I had to design them, source the waterproof fabric (not easy without the internet) and toggles etc., sew them and document the process.
Then I used them for all my expeditions.

I remember when I was doing gold 20 yrs ago, my friend and I decided to do winemaking for our skill. Unfortunately our teacher disallowed it because I was only 17 even though she was 18. So I did photography instead which was a bit of a cheat because I didn't have to go anywhere, just turn up with some photos every now and then.

I didn't complete it because I went to university and gave up. We still made the wine though!

Are a few of his friends doing it? What are their skills? I notice there's a few things like collecting/learning projects or Wargaming could be good if there's a few of them and they're quite geeky.

DD1 did DofE bronze last year.
Skill - musical theatre (was doing it already - 6 months)
Physical - ice skating (went every Sat - 3 months)
Volunteering (Primary after school club - 3 months)
We had to be quite organised to fit it all in.

She is signing up for Silver and continuing the volunteering and logging that. Whether she actually goes for silver is still up for debate. She's definitely not doing the expedition this year (y11).

My DD managed to choose mainly things she already does and ad a terms worth of helping at a young children's after school club. Its the only way for busy people to do it.

We've managed to allow choir as her volunteering . She's doing badminton at school at lunch time for a sport. For she skill she's crocheting a baby blanket for friends baby!
I don't know if she'll get all of it done. Eldest didn't . they are already very " committed" . it's the expedition that they really want to do!

Coding could definitely be a skill - he could probably ask an IT teacher to be his assessor.

Digital photography?
Learning to code/write an app?

I took up knitting years ago when I did. With my grandmother! She signed off sheet etc.. I was CRAP. Made 1/8th of a scarf and she finished it for me :)

Does he like art or craft or wood working? What about joining the school choir for a couple of terms. Is there an IT or chess club after school? Any of those would be suitable.

Could he start learning an instrument?