DofE badly organised

[Cora1942]

Dd doing DofE today .
School have given out 3 man tent to carry. Fair enough they have to carry. But main part of tent is groundsheet, fly sheet etc all in one so can’t be split up.
So one girl carries this and others pegs, poles and cooking equipment.
My Dd fitted 4kg tent plus all her equipment in her rucksack.
She could t fit in a pair of spare trousers so left behind. One of the other girls took her plate and bowl.
But third girl refused to take anything . Turns out girls 2 and 3 have small rucksacks.
So AIBU to expect the school to have checked rucksack sizes before trip and insist it’s a team thing .
I can see my Dd carrying heavy tent for two days as other students not prepared .

Good for her. 1 (expedition) down...

good to hear Update. For bronze, DD got horrific blisters, and she's done almost nothing about preventing that happen again on Silver (sigh). May report how bad when she's back from practice expd'tn in 8 days time.

Glad it went well after all OP!

Purple -before DD did the first of her expeditions, we went on a couple of longish walks with her in charge of the navigation and with a lot of water in her pack. DH was embarrassed to be seen apparently with a small child Sherpa (she was under 5' then) so he carried a stunt rucksack stuffed with lightweight clothing.

ragged compeed plasters are good for blisters

I can fill DD's bag with plasters, doesn't mean she'll bother to put one on (sigh).

My dd did the hike bit of the Bronze DofE (gave up after that) and the group she did it with supplied backpacks for all the kids, so everyone had the same size and shared the burden.

The whole thing is a complete waste of everyone's time anyway, so it's not something I'd overly concern myself with.

Our children had to take their kit in for a kit check a week before the practice expedition and again before the real thing. They'd also had an overnight 'practice practice' putting up the tents & sleeping in them on the school field.

Very well run in our case.

The whole thing is a complete waste of everyone's time anyway

Absolutely not my DDs experience! It's probably true that by and large, what they get out of it depends how much they put into it, of course. And maybe it doesn't suit everyone but no need to pour cold water on the rest ( they'll probably get enough of that, literally)

CalF

How is it s waste of time?

joy sucker

The whole thing is a complete waste of everyone's time anyway, so it's not something I'd overly concern myself with.

ODFOD

@UrsulaPandress

It's a waste of time because most of the DC don't want to be there- they're being forced by parents who think it'll look good on their CV when in reality unis and employers aren't interested. The DC would be far better served doing a more personalised activity/volunteering.

CalF It wasn't a waste of time for my DD. She got a lot out of it, and the volunteering she did helped her in career decision making.

I think we know our DDs and what they benefited from better than you. Why the hostility?

My DD certainly wasn't forced into doing the DOE. I've encouraged her to organise her activities herself and like Ursula's DD she is carrying on with volunteering at Rainbows. It's also helped the kids to build exercise into their weekly routine (and budget for the small cost), which they are going to keep doing, hopefully long term.

My DD is tall and sturdy so had quite a bit of the tent and equipment in her bag. I did encourage her not to take any unnecessary items and her bag was 11kg in the end. She's been camping with friends before (friend's Dad is a scout leader so went along to supervise from the next tent). Fortunately they have lots of camping equipment and they were kind enough to lend stuff we didn't have. I don't know if school checked the bags, DD was moaning about aching shoulders but they had a great time overall.

Hope they are lucky enough to get such nice weather again next time.

The expedition was great for DD. She learned that she could do way more physically than she ever thought, and she learned how to plough on through physical discomfort (something she had never been good at).

When I did it in the 90s, there were 4 in our group and we were told our rucksacks could weigh no more than 25% of our body weight, when we arrived at the starting point they weighed us and our packs then redistributed items as needed. I remember we had one girl who was very petite and another who was very tall and strong, so she carried some of the smaller girl's stuff (moaned like mad about it though!).

Dear god.

Gone are the days when you could tell someone to fuck off without being deleted.

Interesting thread. Clearly different today to what it was in my day!

I think DofE is worthwhile, and my daughter did the hike bit and the volunteering bit at Rainbows, but when it came to learning a new skill or whatever it is, we just found it too difficult to fit in on top of her and the volunteering and the fact that she's with my exh every 2/3 weekends and there just wasn't time so she decided not to continue with it.

Blimey CalF123 - what's your problem ?

DofE certainly isn't a waste of time. It is designed to get youngsters out of their comfort zone, and to get them trying things they might not otherwise have done. For many, yes, they do the 3, or 6 months, and then stop, but there are loads of youngsters that find a new interest and carry on with that. How is that a waste of time ?

most of the DC don't want to be there- they're being forced by parents

Undoubtedly there will be some youngsters that this is true for - I'd question 'most'. However, you can say the same for anything - sports, music lessons and so forth. That doesn't mean that the sport, or that music lessons are a waste of time though. It just means it might not be the right activity for that child, at that time. Many won't know, until they try though.

who think it'll look good on their CV when in reality unis and employers aren't interested

I agree that universities aren't interested, but I (and the CBI) will disagree with you that employers aren't. OK, not the Bronze award, but if your dc achieves their Gold award, it is considered very much a 'plus' by employers across the country.
However, many of us support our dc to do things, because they are enjoyable in themselves. I've supported my dc to do their DofE, not 'for their CVs, but because it is a challenge, and something they will feel chuffed with themselves for achieving.

The DC would be far better served doing a more personalised activity/volunteering

No idea what you are talking about here. The DofE scheme epitomises individuality and tailored programmes to suit the individual candidate. They can choose to do whatever skill and whatever volunteering programme they would like. You can't really get more personalised than that.

Oblomov - in what way ? Interested to know, as I feel that what my dc are doing / have done is actually pretty similar to what I did for mine back in the day.
The only difference I've seen is that you now have to camp whereas there were other options (eg Youth Hosteling) when I did mine, and you no longer need to do a specific number of miles, the expedition is now measured in hours rather than distance.

My experience: The kids I know do it because they like the challenge. Not forced by parents. I guess I'm glad DD is doing it b/c she hates camping & hiking but is doing it, anyway so maybe will overcome her dislikes (Silver this yr) -- only because friends are keen and they wanted her to be part of the group. She put a lot of work into planning the bronze route, thank goodness someone else planning route this yr.