DofE Physical Activity

[PheobeBebe]

Sorry I didn't know where to post this. Does anyone know if there are restrictions on being paid for the physical part of the DofE award? My son completes a paper round daily, around 5 hours a week of cycling, which obviously more than fits the bill for the physical activity. But can he use it for DofE if he is paid to do the activity? My son thinks he can't so won't ask the assessor, but I can't find anything in the parent paperwork to support this. Wondered if anyone knew either way???

My son thinks he can't so won't ask the assessor,

why is he bothering doing DofE with this attitude?!

When I was helping with d of e in school we were told by the lead teacher that ideally it should be a new undertaking or one with goals; I.e. follow a gym programme; swimming training and improvement.
The lead teacher wouldn’t have let your son use his paper round as it’s not something new or measurable in improvement- the cycling is secondary to the job. Something like weekly rugby sessions etc fit the criteria.

Really not helpful. He is generally shy and doesn't want his teacher to think he's silly or cheeky for asking. As much as I think it's a valid question I can't force him to ask.

The fact he is on his silver award, passed bronze with flying colours, is committed to volunteering by tutoring others and developing his skill, plus willing to take on EXTRA physical activity that he might not need to do, shows that he is absolutely capable of doing the award thanks.

I would say no, not because of the payment but because it's supposed to be progressive with a measurable outcome / goal to work towards; not doing the same this every week because you have to.
DofE is meant to be led by the young person, so he should be coming up with ideas himself and asking the staff himself if he is unsure about anything.

This makes more sense, thank you for explaining

i wasn’t aiming to be helpful

so now he’s not asking the teacher because he’s “shy” not because he thinks he’s not allowed to and so doesn’t want to risk it! 😆

counting cycling around his paper round that he is doing anyway is not in the spirit of the award, in any sense

This.
You can't just plonk any old thing you've been doing for years down on the form. The whole point is to set and overcome new challenges. I'm pretty sure it has to be volunteering too - that's the whole point.

If your son doesn't want to ask, let it drop, and find another physical that he can (and more importantly wants) to do.

Could he use the regular paper-round cycling (evidenced by Strava or similar) as training for a cycle event which is the "goal"?

Why are you replying to someone asking a very simple question with your attitude?

He could use it if he sets a goal to work towards. Eg improve speed of cycling around the town. Or improving general fitness, measure resting heart rate before and after and track for improvement.

The qualifying feature of the physical section is that the "activity must have a positive effect on your fitness."

I don't think it matters that he's being paid to deliver papers, after all he could choose to go round his route in a taxi (or mum-taxi). The person paying him isn't (presumably) paying him to cycle.

this