To be frustrated by DofE requirements

[Frenchcremefraiche]

My daughter has just turned 15 and is trying to complete (well, START tbh!) her Bronze DofE.

On paper it's fine: learn something and do some volunteering.

In reality it's really, really hard! All suggestions appreciated!

There are so many exclusions to the skill requirement. She doesnt get home from school until 6 which limits evenings. Not that there are many lessons/groups after school anyway. Then there are so few activities that count as a skill on the weekend. Anything vaguely "sporty" doesnt count as a skill even if it's something she's never done before and is going to classes to learn it (eg ice skating). She's been doing online guitar lessons but because she started those before DofE, they dont count. There is a minimum hours requirement and Ive found a few in person classes but they arent long enough. It needs to be something in person because it needs to be signed off so teaching herself or doing something at home wont count.

Then volunteering, because of her age, very few places can help. Any informal groups that are willing to take her want a parent present because they cant take responsibility for her / arent DBS checked etc which I get but obviously she doesnt want me hanging about. It has to be a regular thing so she cant organise eg an afternoon litter pick. Plus she needs someone to sign it off anyway. She looked at helping at a local beaver/scout group but one said no and the other has her ex boyfriend helping so she said no. In her naive 15year old way she wont help at brownies because they are "sexist".

Any suggestions on what she can do? She's on the verge of having to quit because she cant meet the requirements.

The NCS has closed, that's no longer an option.

Your school is being too picky. Guitar lessons are fine as a skill.
You don't get signed off weekly. My daughter's people signed her off after the 3 or six months.

My other daughter started the school choir as her skill but when it finished she had to top it up with self taught instrument to finish the last three hours and that was accepted.

Sorry if someone already suggested this, but for the skill section she could do something like Duolingo. My son also did an online cooking course for Bronze and a baking course (also online) for Gold. Worked great as he didn’t have to do it at the same time every week. The courses included the assessor‘s report at the end and weekly feedback.
For volunteering she could possibly do something like litter picking on a local beach or in a park? You just need to find someone happy to be her assessor.

Ask her to volunteer her services to drama or music department at school helping with something or writing a weekly letter to elderly person. Just tweak the start date for the skill or headline it as a new skill within the guitar eg theory

Who is the ‘they’ that you keep referring to as saying no?

I’m not sure what you mean about signing off the activity every week. There is no official DofE log to be completed weekly. There’s just a booklet or online equivalent that gets signed off at the end. It’s really straightforward

Are there any extra-curricular groups at school she can help out with?

I volunteered at an Oxfam sorting depot, sifting donated clothes. Would a charity shop or similar be an option?

Also, she doesn’t have to do DoE through school, she could do it privately. Might be better if the school administrator is creating the problems here.

My neice did cooking for her skill and volunteering in the local art gallery

Maybe it would be worth asking in local neighbourhood groups on Facebook or Nextdoor?

Explain she needs something where she can help once a week for her dofe, I bet there are things locally you don't know about that could be options. For example a neighbour who needs gardening/weeding help, a small animal rescue that needs extra hands, a very small community group that would be glad of some help even if it's just helping set up and make drinks etc, a sheltered accommodation that would like regular visitors, befrienders for younger kids, weekly litter picks, etc.

Our town has a volunteer service where you can search all the opportunities. Maybe see if there is one for your area and email them to ask about volunteer opportunities specifically for her age.

The area I live in I'm always finding out about new charities, groups and organisations so it's definitely worth asking around more locally!

Can she not do some volunteering at school? This is a very popular route. Reading buddies, helping with break time duties, helping younger students with maths etc. if nothing already exists at her school I am sure that an offer if help would be gratefully received. Teachers usually very willing to help and to get something back is a bonus! Will also help with timing and logistics

Volunteering

Local youth groups
Wrap around at primary schools
Sports clubs
Litter picking
Village shops that are community ran
Care homes

Skill, cooking? Get a neighbour to be an assessor

Have a look on the DofE website opportunity finder, loads of resources.

This is a really good idea.

Can you check on the previously started thing. DS helped with cubs for bronze, silver and gold. He progressed from helping out, and ended up running entire sessions with the adults present but not assisting. Other son did badminton for all levels, beginner to taking part in tournaments.
At 15 one helped for a wildlife charity where I volunteered doing observations at a particular site once a week, the other did cubs.

One of my dc helped with brownies, the other at the library , stacking shelves on a weekly basis and helping with summer reading challenge.

Other kids helped with a school club.

Agree with what a pp said about a bit of bending of the rules. One of the activities was signed off by her friend's mum.

Hi OP, I don't think it's as restrictive as you've been led to believe. For his bronze skill my son did an online first aid course (accessed through the DofE website - they have quite a range of these online "ubee" courses). He did it in his own time as it was pre-recorded so your daughter ought to be able to fit this sort of thing in. The course certificate is accepted as evidence by DofE. For his bronze physical he did running and our neighbour signed him off (this is fine - it just can't be a family member/partner etc). He had definitely been running before doing this for DofE - the important thing was to set a new challenge. He aimed to do improve enough to do a 5k race by the end of the period. I would have thought that provided your daughter sets herself a realistic target of improvement for her musical instrument that should be fine. Also, activities have to be for an average of an hour a week but you can do longer sessions less often - my son volunteered at the Oxfam shop for three hours every three weeks (silver) and he's just about to start volunteering with a conservation organisation one 4-hour morning a month for his gold. I hope this helps your daughter find activities that qualify under the scheme, work for her and that she can enjoy. I hope she can continue with it - the scheme has been really good for my son, especially the volunteering has grown his confidence and the expeditions will be remembered for a lifetime (I remember mine!).

This is what DD is doing for the skills bit - cooking and photographing and logging it each week.
Think for volunteering she's doing reading buddies with a younger child via the school library, another of her friends is doing a lunchtime litter pick in the school grounds.

I did it via cadets. They took us to a care home and we chatted with residents. Could your daughter go one afternoon and play guitar for them with tunes from their era. I learned to shoot a rifle as my skill. Oh to have the eyesight I had back then.

You need to speak to whoever is the DofE organiser as they seem to have invented some very strict rules. Look on the DofE website for clarification. This is a really easy thing to do so the school shouldn't be making it so hard.

My DD volunteered in our local library every Saturday for 2 hours and loved it. are you sure your DD is telling the truth that the library said no? The central library website even states they take DofE volunteers so it's a bit odd your DD was told no.

My DD did cooking for her skill. Cooked us dinner once a week, photographed it and asked one of her teachers at school to sign it off.

For activity she did couch to 5k, recorded it on strava and got her form tutor to sign it off.

The person signing off does not need to be present to be able to sign it off.

Has she asked in school if there is any opportunities to volunteer to help the younger pupils?

Can she ask around her dofe group what others are doing?

Haven't rtft but our DD did park run for volunteering and DS did school rugby training (agreed it is a difficult age to get formal volunteering). They both did baking as the skill. Signed off by our friend who is a secondary school teacher (not home economics but no one checked)

In what way does the little woke warrior find brownies “sexist”…

id be horrified if a child of mine came out with that!

My daughter volunteered in the library at school, and did an online sign language course. Can she ask at school to see if there is anything she can do there? Or learn a skill like knitting/crochet, or baking? All doable at home.

This was several years ago but my sister and her friends were able to do their volunteering at school - litter picking in the grounds and "recycling club" which involved crushing cans for collection. Are those potential options especially considering she is on school premises for a protracted day anyway?

They were also allowed to do a weekly aerobics class as their new skill. I thought that was a bit tenuous! But possibly one with a specific focus would fit the bill?

Our church is always looking for volunteers to help with regular gardening, serving morning coffee after the main services and man the doors at jumble sales/fairs. Religious associations might not be her thing though and she might also find it "sexist" as most of the volunteers tend to be women.

Have you got any rugby clubs near you? They might welcome someone to help out with the mini age groups

I agree with you that the requirements are discouraging but surely that's the whole point of the D of E - to promote resilience, encourage broad thinking and not making it easy to get?