Page 4 | Can I be really nosy and ask what you paid for Duke of Edinburgh award through school

Mondayforthebin · 2023-02-20T21:56:17+00:00

So DS's was nearly £300 which at the time I thought sounded okay for a 3 day residential & training etc but I've just been speaking to Dsis and her DC only paid £50 (this was a few years ago though). I just assumed that everyone paid the same but it would appear not. As I said just being a bit nosy now to see what others have paid.

WombatChocolate · 22/02/2023 21:14

It’s amazing isn’t it, that people volunteer with these organisations, so the kids can have such wonderful experiences for minimal cost. Absolutely brilliant. Hats off to everyone who is involved.

The trouble is, these organisations couldn’t accommodate all the teens who want to do DofE. Many kids are not involved in Scouts etc and although more could be, for many it will be school or nothing for D of E.

Often it’s kids of middle class parents who are involved in Scouts, Cadets etc. it’s great that they access the opportunities for low costs. Schools increasingly having to charge more for all the reasons listed upthread tend to hit those who are less well-off and less likely to be involved already in Scouts etc, and who then can’t access DofE at school due to higher costs. In the past, schools had budgets for subsidising this kind of thing….but there is less and less money for this. People certainly will miss out.

Nimbostratus100 · 22/02/2023 21:22

Bluegingerbread · 22/02/2023 21:04

DC has done Bronze with Scouts and is now doing Silver with them. We paid the D of E online registration fee at the start ( £25 or £30 I think) and then District Scouts charge £30 each for Bronze, Silver or Gold - so £90 if you do the whole thing through to Gold. Amazing value, they do lots of training sessions and have equipment to loan out. All due to the fantastic volunteers, obviously.

School charge £250 for Bronze plus the registration fee and generally it seems to be a bit rubbish, no training on map reading etc before the practice expedition, you learn it all on the practice expedition. And they will sign off anything, several kids are just pretending to do volunteering etc. It's a bit sad really. I suspect it would be better not to run it than to let them learn to cheat. I think they charge £500 for Silver and £800 for Gold. DC will stick to doing it with Scouts as it's so much cheaper and they get a much more useful experience.

whos going to do the training aside from the company outsourced for the expeditions? Of course there isnt any training before the practice

underneaththeash · 22/02/2023 21:27

WombatChocolate · 22/02/2023 21:14

It’s amazing isn’t it, that people volunteer with these organisations, so the kids can have such wonderful experiences for minimal cost. Absolutely brilliant. Hats off to everyone who is involved.

The trouble is, these organisations couldn’t accommodate all the teens who want to do DofE. Many kids are not involved in Scouts etc and although more could be, for many it will be school or nothing for D of E.

Often it’s kids of middle class parents who are involved in Scouts, Cadets etc. it’s great that they access the opportunities for low costs. Schools increasingly having to charge more for all the reasons listed upthread tend to hit those who are less well-off and less likely to be involved already in Scouts etc, and who then can’t access DofE at school due to higher costs. In the past, schools had budgets for subsidising this kind of thing….but there is less and less money for this. People certainly will miss out.

I ‘m not sure what your point is.

Bluegingerbread · 22/02/2023 21:42

Nimbostratus100 · 22/02/2023 21:22

whos going to do the training aside from the company outsourced for the expeditions? Of course there isnt any training before the practice

Show quote history

With Scouts, there is training in map reading and route planning etc before the practice run. The point of the practice is to check that you can apply what you have learnt and whether you are safe to do the real one. All Scouts or Cadets that I know doing D of E round here do it that way. For a start they have to have mapped out their route in advance. Scout leaders are present at the checkpoints, they're not walking along with the Scouts training them during the practice.

Bluegingerbread · 22/02/2023 21:45

WombatChocolate · 22/02/2023 21:14

It’s amazing isn’t it, that people volunteer with these organisations, so the kids can have such wonderful experiences for minimal cost. Absolutely brilliant. Hats off to everyone who is involved.

The trouble is, these organisations couldn’t accommodate all the teens who want to do DofE. Many kids are not involved in Scouts etc and although more could be, for many it will be school or nothing for D of E.

Often it’s kids of middle class parents who are involved in Scouts, Cadets etc. it’s great that they access the opportunities for low costs. Schools increasingly having to charge more for all the reasons listed upthread tend to hit those who are less well-off and less likely to be involved already in Scouts etc, and who then can’t access DofE at school due to higher costs. In the past, schools had budgets for subsidising this kind of thing….but there is less and less money for this. People certainly will miss out.

Probably depends on area, but our scouts are definitely not mainly middle class. It's a deprived area and the people making good use of Scouts as a very cheap activity are largely lower waged. Most of my middle class friends here wouldn't touch scouts with a barge pole, more fool them.

itsjustnotok · 22/02/2023 21:50

DD is doing Bronze through St John Ambulance and it’s costing us her personal equipment and they are providing tents etc. I’ve used eBay for all the more expensive stuff because I cannot afford to buy it brand new and tbh begrudge paying from something so a few days!

UsingChangeofName · 22/02/2023 22:48

Of course there isn't any training before the practice

Who on earth would let their children go out into National Parks / hills / moors etc without them having learned how to read maps, use compasses, pack a rucksack, what to carry in your rucksack, learn how to use a cooker, put up a tent, know what to do in a medical emergency, know what to do in any other emergency, what foods to carry / what not to carry, the importance of hydration, what to wear / not to wear ???

Any organisation sending young people out unprepared is not only not doing them any favours, and is not following the scheme properly, but they are putting those young people in danger. They should be reported and prevented from being able to 'sell themselves' as DofE providers.

UsingChangeofName · 22/02/2023 22:50

our scouts are definitely not mainly middle class. It's a deprived area and the people making good use of Scouts as a very cheap activity are largely lower waged

This.
We have a very mixed bunch of people doing Scouts in our County (Leaders and Young People).

Nimbostratus100 · 23/02/2023 01:15

Bluegingerbread · 22/02/2023 21:42

With Scouts, there is training in map reading and route planning etc before the practice run. The point of the practice is to check that you can apply what you have learnt and whether you are safe to do the real one. All Scouts or Cadets that I know doing D of E round here do it that way. For a start they have to have mapped out their route in advance. Scout leaders are present at the checkpoints, they're not walking along with the Scouts training them during the practice.

Show quote history

but if it is outsourced, the school buys two weekends from the company, and the company provide all the training and practice on one weekend, and the real expedition on the other.

And generally what happens is the school buys in enough trainers for them to work individually, and then provides the chaperones themselves, so "outsourcing" generally means the school only needs 10 staff to volunteer, and it can be anybody at all, rather than 20 staff volunteering, 10 of whom have to be qualified

SheilaFentiman · 23/02/2023 07:37

UsingChangeofName · 22/02/2023 22:48

Of course there isn't any training before the practice

Who on earth would let their children go out into National Parks / hills / moors etc without them having learned how to read maps, use compasses, pack a rucksack, what to carry in your rucksack, learn how to use a cooker, put up a tent, know what to do in a medical emergency, know what to do in any other emergency, what foods to carry / what not to carry, the importance of hydration, what to wear / not to wear ???

Any organisation sending young people out unprepared is not only not doing them any favours, and is not following the scheme properly, but they are putting those young people in danger. They should be reported and prevented from being able to 'sell themselves' as DofE providers.

IIRC, for Bronze, which I did through school, teachers walked with us the first day of the practice and showed us map reading etc, then we were more independent the second day.

Hmmthatsgoodchicken · 23/02/2023 07:49

I think dds is about £38 for bronze.
They have to provide all their own kit (dd says school has loads of bits, so if you can't get something, school will let you use it)
She started volunteering at the local Rainbows unit in September/ October and she loves it, she only has to do it for 6 months but she has already decided she will stay after that (they are happy to have her).

calimali · 23/02/2023 07:54

Teachers are paid nothing for taking on the responsibility of D of E. Larger costs in some schools mean that the school has outsourced it and you are being charged the going rate.

Maybe now some of the teacher bashers on MN will appreciate just how much above and beyond teachers have been going to give children experiences like this out of the classroom. I did D of E for years - hard work, but so rewarding for the students. It's a shame that so many families will not be able to access this due to costs now.

Lordofmyflies · 23/02/2023 08:00

£280 through school. School outsources expedition training to a company who runs prep days and the practice and actual expedition. They also provide tents, cooking equipment and fuel for cooking. I don't think that's bad for training and supervising 2 weekends. Unfortunately, the added costs of sports, skills and residential does add up.