DofE Bronze Award £170.00

[37KAT]

Hi,

DC taking part in the DofE Bronze award.
If you are doing this or your teenager would you mind saying what you're paying?
Our school charging £170 which I am wondering is inflated as we're proving the equipment and food etc. Chatting to a colleague who says their DC is only paying £35 for it.

DofE website says it £21 for the award but schools can make additional charges if they explain what they are, which they haven't.
AIBU to query this with the school?

£170 does seem steep: are they providing tents/rucksack etc?
When mine did the Bronze there was a hire arrangement with a local company that you had to opt out of if you had proper kit already.

They're providing tents and cooking equipment although I understand they have the tents already. They have offered some bags however I know a lot kids have these.

DofE website says it £21 for the award but schools can make additional charges if they explain what they are, which they haven't.
AIBU to query this with the school?

Yes query it and if you don't like their answer contact the DofE people and let them know that your childs school are doing this. It sounds a lot.

Depends on who is running it. Our school employs an outside agency to staff and organise the expedition. They do a training day, provide tents and stoves before staffing the practice and real expeditions.

Where is the expedition trip? My bronze expedition was a very boring hike around a few farms in Buckinghamshire but if they are organising something more interesting then there will be an extra cost. Likewise are any of the other activities an upgrade from the most basic option? Does the school have a dedicated staff member to facilitate getting the kids through the process?

My son has just done, cant remember what we paid but it was around £30.

Wolfieplan, fair point, they did have a training day, perhaps it was outsourced.

The cost at DDs school has more than doubled this year because they have had to change to an outside supplier after always managing it in house.

We paid £100 - but it was more than worth it. They provided everything - even down to rucksacks. All we needed was some additional food. The time the teachers gave to it was substantial too - every week after school plus a number of expeditions.

Ours is about £150 but they do provide tents and equipment to borrow. Also our DC has had a couple of training days/ practice expeditions, which were run from a local outward bound centre with qualified activity leaders, which is probably where a lot of the cost lies.

DC’s school does offer greatly reduced costs for students in families on lower incomes/Pupil premium.

I’d definitely ask for a breakdown we’ve only paid the £ 21.

We paid £210 for DofE bronze. I realised this was pricey, but that what what the school charged. It did include 2 training days, a practice expedition that was fairly local, then the actual expedition which was further afield and required coach hire. Both expeditions involved staying on camp sites. All tents/cooking equipment were provided but we were asked to provide all food, sleeping bags/rucksacks etc. There was spare kit available for those who didn't have it/couldn't afford it.

Have the school given you a breakdown as to what the £170 includes?