Duke of Edinburgh award - bronze

I'm sorry I've just checked and it was 150. 300 was for both. They did the sport in school anyway so didn't cost anything. They both volunteered in our local primary (one loved it and now wants to teach one hated every minute of it)

They were told where the campsite was (one year there was a heatwave and they had to cut it short)

Our kids pay £110 for the Bronze - the school do not offer anything beyond. That covers tent, cooking equipment and campsite fees - they must supply everything else - clothing, backpacks, bedding and food. It's run by the school - so no external companies involved. No help with the other activities - kids have to pay and organise parents usually do this If the child has failed to complete the requirements for activity, skill and volunteer sections within 9 months they are not allowed to go on the expedition, they will not be given an opportunity to repeat and they will not get a refund. 75 kids in the year took part - 5 failed to meet the pre requirements, they all completed the expedition.

they recommended you get your own rucksack

If you can afford to, particularly (again) relevant for smaller people - even if the school has kit they may not have much for non-average sized students. And a big rucksack can at least come in useful when/if they go away to uni if they're coming home for the vacs by train.

milady
It still seems expensive!

The enrolment for D of E is about £20.
I am curious now. Did the kids have to take their own food because that will be an additional cost. What about gas for the Trangia?
Where they advised which campsite to use or did they have a free reign on where they went.
What did they do for their physical activity. We can provide mountain biking,walking, orienteering, canoeing, rock climbing in house so there is no cost but if they wanted to do say, ice skating or kick boxing the family would have to do that because we haven't got qualified staff.

What I take from this thread is that sone people have no idea how some children live

I think you could probably put that on any mumsnet thread couldn't you?

It's a bit ridiculous to make this a class war thread when it's about dofe

What I take from this thread is that sone people have no idea how some children live.

It was outsourced but everything was provided except shoes and they recommended you get your own rucksack

Absolutely Quantum - DD hated the fact that the group got lost on the practice expedition, so took over map reading for the actual expedition - so that they didn't get lost.

Kids do get suckered in by the it'll look good on you CV - and probably a lot do it for the 'wrong' reasons, but it does teach resilience, teamwork, cements friendships, gets them volunteering.
Absolutely agree with this but the saying "you only get out what you put in" very much applies here. Ds - who normally would be a reluctant leader, was forced into that role because the rest of his group were ridiculously lazy - so he had to work hard and no doubt benefitted from this but the other 4 or 5 boys learnt that if they sit on their hands long enough someone else will do it for you!

With regards to funding, I put a bid in every year to the LA for money for the D of E. We are just about hanging in there but as you can imagine over the last decade funding has been cut.
Everything on the kit list is not needed. A lot of stuff could possibly be borrowed from young people's services if they are not using it with their own groups.
Milady who did your kids do the award with?That is expensive but I have heard of people being charged that. My son did his through school and it cost £65 six years ago and was run in house. However since then his school and many others have outsourced the D of E to private outdoor adventure companies and the costs have soared.
Places like Youth zone can still do the award cheaply.

Although it doesn't have a direct impact on uni applications I do think that D of E can be a good thing.

Kids do get suckered in by the it'll look good on you CV - and probably a lot do it for the 'wrong' reasons, but it does teach resilience, teamwork, cements friendships, gets them volunteering.

My DD did the bronze and won't do silver - but she will carry on with her volunteering and that will definitely help her CV.

Agree with TeenTimes and others - it's very much a challenge - no way would I be able to do it now at my age.

Yes some find it harder than others but not many actually don't complete the bronze expedition
Are you a D of E co ordinator or assessor with these "facts"?

Half of me feels like going on to to my e D of E account and copying and pasting my figure from over the years showing those that have completed and those that have to do their qualifying as they haven't been successful in their practice runs. I can't say they have failed because they have up to their 25th birthday to have everything boxed off and approved but there's many I will never see again.

Some schools have kit stores that they use to keep costs down.

I think some people get a bit over-excited about gear and go a bit nuts and end up spending far too much. At Bronze it is a two day walk in normal countryside and clothes and shoes should be bought accordingly. Neither of mine had anything expensive from Berghaus!

Yes it cost us 300 a time

Unbelievably some parents are so against it even though they don't have to contribute towards it and try to sabotage it. No idea why. Is the DofE free in some areas - parents here have to pay over £100 for the bronze and then the kit for the expedition costs £££s too - was very amused by the recommendations for kit from DofE Berghaus, appeared frequently - I reckon it would have come to £500 if you had paid attention.

Well they don't struggle do they? Most complete it? Yes some find it harder than others but not many actually don't complete the bronze expedition?

DD want to do this, I been on the info meeting in school but think DD wants to do it for the wrong reasons, she says it will help with uni applications while I like the fact she would do it for the community side and be more responsible. Can someone please explain it for me? Does it help with uni applications?

No it usually doesn't - but don't tell DD that! It doesn't matter why she starts, just doing it will help her to learn some responsibility. How much she gets out of will depend on how much she puts in but she will have to volunteer, do some physical activity, do something creative, go to meetings, and plan a trip away - all regularly over a period of time and that's that's all good in itself. She can't tell what she will get out of it before she even starts.

I wouldn't try to sabotage anything but if you think bronze dofe makes a difference to uni applications then you are

Jeez, I've said a couple of times that i don't think it makes any difference in general to uni applications.

When i said about what evidence do you have .....I was referring to you saying a couple of times that most young people wouldnt struggle with 'a walk and a nights camp*
There's a bit more to it than that!

What do you mean evidence? Evidence of what? Calm down, its great that you do what you do, but clearly you are working in a difficult area.

I wouldn't try to sabotage anything but if you think bronze dofe makes a difference to uni applications then you are wrong.

Teentimestwo That is excatly what my posts have been about! But people seem to think the Bronze is a doddle. It's an achievement getting them to turn up every ither Thursday for our planning session!

You are saying most teens but where's your evidence?
Are you assuming that most can or are you guessing because your kids and their mates were ok.
How many course have you ran in the last 13 years like me?

Unbelievably some parents are so against it even though they don't have to contribute towards it and try to sabotage it. No idea why.

I doubt unis notice or care what kind of upbringing kids have had. Dds friend did gold which indo think is a real stretch. No idea if it made a difference for uni as she didn't get the grades and went through clearing where apparently it wasn't mentioned.

Then you have inner city kids who may have never been to the countryside, so the cow dung and the peeing outside and the long walks are new.
And those families who have never had the funds to do extra curricular stuff so they haven't got existing activities available to slot into sections easily.
Our primary had kids who at y4 had never been swimming or been on a train. Something MC families take for granted 'oh by 9 they should be able to swim100 lengths'

All the interviews my DS had for uni, he was asked about DofE. I think it can be a useful talking point - rather than something that actually contributes to securing an interview in the first place - IYSWIM.

Outside of that, both my DC have gained a huge amount by doing their DofE and have really great memories of it.

That was to teens

dad it sounds challenging. My point was most 14 year olds are used to coping in situations without adult involvement.

Tbh the hardest thing for my dds year was not being allowed their phones!!