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.

Cooking?

https://www.eggandsoldiers.co.uk/dofe-cookery-skills-bronze-silver-gold?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22345392477&gbraid=0AAAAAoMuMjHanLObQoWjjACkxizMPI1Ri&gclid=Cj0KCQiAiebIBhDmARIsAE8PGNJmInJWmpP5Exf17wKi1A5xSRnurlvG9iUI4_1G82bsyVF-7OwJKagaAk__EALw_wcB

Loads of places do courses.

Both my kids helped with lower year groups at school and activities during lunchtime or after school.

One helped with the orchestra in the junior school, whilst another helped with the year seven football club. I think it was a bit of a cop-out really, but it was very time-efficient so they got their volunteering done in school hours. If she approaches one of the teachers running one of the clubs for younger years, they will welcome a student helper I’m sure. Especially if it is a club she attended herself.

I volunteer at our local football club. We also have the rule that parents have to be around supervising (they’re more than welcome to sit in the clubhouse and drink free tea..)

Last year the lad doing DofE struggled to commit to certain times to when our volunteers were on site. He’d take before and after photos of our carpark/around our grounds and he picked up litter/pulled weeds.

Why assume they've got space for more helpers?

Things must have changed since DS did Bronze (before COVID). He got things signed off after 6 months (or whatever the time period was). He used piano and hockey for activities, which he had been doing before he started Bronze but just had to show improvement eg going up a grade, playing in hockey tournament and regular lessons and attending hockey sessions

It seems there's an excuse for every option suggested so far. Unless you live in an igloo in the arctic, there must be options. What are her peers doing?

You say she can't do XYZ because you don't drive. Why can't she get a bus/train/tram/cycle? Surely the whole point of DofE is to enhance her personal growth and gain independence?

Anyway, some other things I've not seen suggested as I've had a quick skim so far...

Local animal shelter/wildlife rescue
Cinnamon trust dog walking
National trust or similar type organisation
Food bank
Local community cafe

Otherwise, get creative. Could she volunteer her time locally to help a young child with reading/homework for an hour on a weekend? Offer her services for one off cleaning/gardening/car washing etc.

At the end of the day, if she wants to do it she'll find something. Although I think its admirable that she's standing by her morals in terms of things like brownies if that's her belief.

What are her after school clubs? We accept skill they do in enrichment. Our school librarian also takes on volunteers & signs off for them. Family friends & neighbours can be an assessor. Lots of our students do baking as a skill. Some do Duolingo. There’s lots of ideas in here. Just make sure she takes photos as evidence.

https://www.dofe.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/programme_ideas_-_skills.pdf

I still don't understand why she can't use her guitar lessons for her skill. Mine have all used ongoing music lessons for their skill - useful as it counts for the 6 months one. They just need to show they have made some sort of progress. I'm sure the assessor just needs to provide a report on the portal, which is done online. Mine have never had to provide weekly screenshots for an ongoing lesson - it just gets signed off at the end.

Mine have done theirs via two different schools - one was much stricter on the requirements, the other was much more relaxed (and more inclusive imo) so it didn't need to be an organised activity, but could be something like litter picking or cycling round the park so long as you sent the school DofE liaison a weekly picture and he would sign it off.

DD used her tenor horn for her skill, and she had been playing for ages.....

Our council has a list of volunteering vacancies and sometimes d of e opportunities are listed. St John's Ambulance is one people join here. Or charity shops. Dd did sea cadets for skills i think. I've known people do tennis lessons and canoeing or learn scuba diving for skills.

Volunteering- my daughters football club runs a tea bar on a weekend morning and often has D of E students Volunteering. She could contact local teams and ask about this or any other roles. A neighbour did dog walking. I think someone already mentioned Park run. Ask at local library?

Skill is more difficult. Join a local choir?

It seems you or your daughter have designed a more onerous qualification than DofE and that’s why she can’t do it - because someone other than DofE has created barriers.

You’re also not entertaining valid ideas - what about cycling to park run to volunteer there?

And you say she does Explorer Scouts already - that’s an organisation set up to develop skills and give volunteering opportunities to young people. Does her scout leader not have any ideas? Scouting as an organisation must know other organisations that know people she can shop for, for example.

As PP said - the point of DofE isn’t really the skill you learns and the volunteering - it’s about demonstrating resourcefulness, resilience and developing relationships. It looks as though your DD might be struggling with these skills, so maybe DofE isn’t for her at this stage.

No regular litter picking groups (has to be weekly).
We don't drive so the nearest Cadets (of any sort) is the best part of an hour away which just isnt doable after school. She is an Explorer (Scouts) but because she already does that, it doesnt count towards her DofE.

Hello,
My daughter wrote letters to children in hospital - she took photos of all the letters and her form tutor signed them off.

Her skill was cooking - and she taught herself to make bread. Again photos signed off from school.

Could she join a new sports team at school?

I felt the exact same as your DD about Brownies and I think she's right. However this might be worth a try ... Some girls don't have a safe space at home and the Brownies, for a few girls, can offer that. Anyone volunteering keeps that safe space going and it might be a lifeline for a few kids. That's worth supporting and volunteering for.

The guitar would count. But not the time spent doing it before DofE started. She had to set herself a goal, have someone sign to say she hadn't achieved it before DofE started and had (or had made progress towards it) by the end.

You're also not allowed to do the same skill twice (eg for Bronze and again for Silver). Except that you can, you just have to demonstrate you're doing it at a higher level

Eg my son took up a new activity at Beginner level for Bronze and continued with it when he finished the award. He was able to use the same activity for Silver at Intermediate level.

The rules are quite clear and have been for decades. They are designed to stop people finding short cuts and cop outs so that it's actually worth doing.

(Detail included for OP's benefit - I assume you already know all this 😉)

Look up the National Saturday Club. DS joined their art programme and absolutely loved it. It’s free and really well run. He genuinely learnt a whole load of new skills, made new friends, and had so much fun. Loads of kids on the programme (including DS) got their DofE skill signed off through this.

Coming back to this… have you actually gone onto the website and read the criteria. A few things seem to be ruled out because your DD is saying that it doesn’t count when I (and a few others) think it does.
Also, I’m guessing she’s at private school with that finish time. Has she asked the DofE co-ordinator at her school for some help? My DD was quite envious of her friends as private school as they essentially organised much of it for them. For example, a whole group when to a local special needs school with another going to an old people’s home and others to the local food bank.
Much of the point of DofE is that it is supposed to be challenging. The real barrier to entry is that many teens - young carers, those who don’t count as young carers as such but are from large families and looking after siblings whilst parents juggle jobs or who might have elderly relatives living with them - are doing many of these things as their day to day lives and so already have the time management skills etc that DofE brings.

Everyone is telling you this isn't true - but you don't seem to be listening. Unless the school is interpreting the rules incorrectly.

Agree with PP, either the leader at school is making it unnecessary difficult (can’t see why) or your DD is coming up with excuses.

Have you checked the DofE website OP? There are hundreds of options, and our school co-ordinator even said the kids could backdate stuff to the start of the school year. So if the kids have been doing netball after school for 6 weeks, they’re already halfway through, the netball coach just needs to sign off, as they should have a record of who attends each week.

They really don’t make it difficult to achieve Bronze award!

My DC just got their Bronze DofE certificate therefore my information is current.

They continued to do a skill that they had been doing before. They got that activity signed off each week for the 3 months. Like others have said, it doesn’t need to be a new activity. It can be learning new things within an existing activity.

Volunteering can harder to fulfil. Not having a car & being remote will make this more difficult. It is important to note that it is an AVERAGE of 1 hour per week for 3 months. So you can do 2 hours fortnightly for example.

I would contact the school to get sent the requirements for you to view & look on the actual DofE website. I would ask if there is any volunteering the school can suggest. Even volunteering within the school as that was an option for one of DCs friend.

My dd volunteers at a local kids hockey training at the weekend. She puts out cones and generally helps the coach keep the younger ones engaged.
her skill is something she can already do very well, which I felt was a bit cheeky but I don’t see the point in making her life difficult over it.

Your responses to all these very reasonable suggestions suggest either don’t actually understand the DofE (check the website, like PP have said!) or you’re actively trying to discredit it.

Online courses DO count.
Skills / volunteering DON’T need to be signed off in person every week.
Informal activities (eg litter pics or baking) DO count

She has been trying to sort this. She has asked me for help because she isnt getting anywhere. A few weeks ago she went round every charity shop ("even the smelly ones" 🤣) and they all said no. She asked at the library without any prompting and also found out info about Young Leaders.

I dont think it was no to her specifically as she generally comes across well (she saves her surlyness for home).

Skill we did touch typing. I figured it is still a skill worth having. There's an online course you can do in your own time.