Duke of Edinburgh's award scheme

[GypsyMoth]

i know nothing....anybody got experience of this?

DD wants to do it...cost? commitments? how much will i be involved?

main/only cost is expedition as fas I know - a two day campaign thing thing - £60?

oh and you have to register which I think is £15 or so

essentially they have to do the expedition and a practice one

then they have to do a skill a sport and a caring thing I think - for either 3 or 6 months each - no cost for any of this, they just have to find something to do each week for each category that fits the rules and get someone to sign to say that they have done it

if DD is doing it with school then school will explain it all - all you will need to do is really to help DD to find skill, sport and caring thing, although DD may well be able to do this herself (my DC is) - make sense?

oh lovely!!

yes,there is a meeting at school soon...just wanted an idea first as going to the meeting will mean i'm allowing it in her book!!

well all sounds up her street! she said it goes on cv and will help her later on,so think this will be great for her

thankyou!!

Which level are you talking about? -bronze, silver or gold? You shouldn't be involved too much; the whole idea is to teach them a bit of independence and self-reliance.

Website here

Cost should be minimal but if they end up doing a sport and some other lesson (eg music) for their skill, that can mount up - depends if they do them already. And some schools have great plans to take Gold groups to say the south of France and charge parents the earth.

My school tried that and my friends and I found a local council-run group that was going to Snowdonia instead for about 1/10 the price and didn't require spending 2 weeks near our pervy DoE teacher...

right,so it can be costly,depending...hmmm

well dd is 13,14 soon...so looking at bronze i believe.

thanks for the website!! will have a good read

They do this at our school. The costs vary according to what you choose to do. As Notcitrus says, if you already learn an instrument & do a sport then no extra cost, but if not then whatever you choose will probably cost a bit, but how much depends what it is.

The expedition costs vary too. Our school goes to the Lakes & the Peak District for silver & gold & the cost for each is of the order of £70 (you do two expeditions for each level) which covers campsite fees, petrol & supervision. You also need kit: walking boots, rucksack + good sleeping bag and a few other bits and pieces which can add up if you don't already have them. We can borrow tents/ stoves etc from the school, so that helps keep the costs down.

At gold level they also need to do a weeks residential which can be expensive I'm told, but again depends what you choose to do. Ds (if he does gold) will do a CCF course for his residential which is a very low cost option, but a more typical cost would be around £200 I would think.

And they do an 'exotic' option for gold expedition - Morocco next time, which costs a fortune, but is optional as the Lakes/Peak District is an alternative.

Ah, bronze - x-posts. Bronze expeditions are shorter and usually quite local, so cheaper (~£20 a time for us I think). But you still need all the gear.

I'm sad that you are so cynical about DofE NVM. It didn't really cost us anything for DD's skill and sport element of the award because she was already a busy bee, so it was merely a matter of logging what she was already doing. Also, the residential was a week of do-gooding which only cost us the petrol to get her there.
I think that it is like Gap Years: you can either enter into it in the spirit in which it is intended or you can buy the experience. You get out what you put in (I'm referring to effort, not money BTW).

A lot of kids suddenly find DofE in the sixthform when they discover that their CV looks a bit thin. DD was advised to point out on her UCAS form that she had done all three stages specifically to show that she wasn't a johnny-come-lately.

Is there any way it could be sponsored?

TBB - You can get a sponsor sometimes but I remember it being difficult. I did my gold expedition husky sledding in the arctic and we struggled to find a sponsor - eventually we managed to sell our photos to the DoE organisation (because it was the first time anyone had ever done a sledding expedition) and get a sponsor from a local camping shop. We had to go to meetings with loads of other potential sponsors to try to convince them to sponsor us.
The expedition doesn't need to be expensive though. There is always loads of DoE equipment type stuff on ebay / you'll often get a discount with a DoE card. The members have to plan the trip as a group, so they just plan something they can afford or find a job to pay for it.
The rest of it doesn't need to be expensive. The requirements are service, action and skill which can all be free depending on which option your dd chooses. At gold level there is an extra residential project requirement. The residential might cost something unless your dd does a volunteering residential too.

I used to run the DofE for a youth group a while ago so I have fairly detailed knowledge...

There are three stages - Bronze, Silver and Gold.

For all three you have to undertake some form of voluntary work over a period of 3 months for Bronze, 6 months for Silver and 12 months for Gold. Costs for that should be minimal or non-existent.

You also have to take part in physical activities. Depending on which activity you choose, you may simply have to participate or you may have to achieve some standards. The costs for this depend on what physical activities are chosen.

The skills section is required at all three stages. You have to learn a new skill. Again, costs depend on the skill chosen. If your daughter is already learning a musical instrument, she may be able to use that.

You have to participate in the physical and skills activities for 3 months for the Bronze. For Silver you have to do one for 6 months and the other for 3 months - you can choose which way round. Similarly for Gold it is one for 12 months and the other for 6 months.

As others have said, the expedition is often the biggest cost. The Bronze expedition is 2 days and 1 night rising to 4 days and 3 nights for Gold. You have to do a practise expedition as well as the qualifying expedition. The practise doesn't have to be as long as the full expedition but for Silver and Gold it must include 2 consecutive nights away. The expedition can be on foot (the most common choice), by canoe/kayak, boat, bicycle, wheelchair or on horseback. Whoever is operating the DofE scheme should be able to provide some equipment (tents, etc.) but you will have to provide personal equipment such as boots, suitable clothing, rucksack, etc.

Finally, for the Gold award there is a residential requirement. That involves spending 5 days and 4 nights away from home on a shared activity with strangers. Costs vary hugely depending on the choice made. Helping on a children's camp, for example, is likely to cost a lot less than undertaking a project in India.

The Bronze award takes a minimum of 3 months, the Silver needs 6 months and the Gold at least 12 months. Most people take longer than this.

You will certainly be involved in providing a taxi service! It is unlikely you will be involved much more than that - part of the objective is to get young people doing things for themselves.

One additional thing - depending on your daughter's age, she may go straight in at Silver or Gold levels without doing the earlier stages. However, if she does she will have to spend more time on the Physical, Skills and Volunteering sections than the figures I've given above.

I took part in DofE when I was the right age (more years ago than I care to remember!) and found it thoroughly worthwhile.

DD1 has completed her bronze and silver and working on her gold. She has really enjoyed the whole experience and I feel she's done a lot that she wouldn't have done otherwise. For the physical she used two sports which she was already doing, for the skill she learned an instrument. DH was able to teach her and her school music teacher listened to the pieces she learned and wrote about her progress. She did some voluntary work in a charity shop for bronze and for silver - and continuing for gold - she volunteers with people with learning difficulties and thoroughly enjoys this to the extent that she puts in more than her required hours just because she wants to. The expeditions weren't too expensive. The costliest bit was the equipment but she has used it for other things too and we did shop around for good buys.

I previously thought the D of E was all about box ticking and something to write on a CV, but DD has got a lot out of the whole experience and I hope DD2 decides to do it.

ok...lots of great advice...thankyou all!!

i'll be honest....she is very .very keen,she has always loved this kind of thing and is sporty and very motivate....BUT ..i feel it will be me that may hold her back. she's second eldest of my five children,and i'm a lone parent on low income.

please be honest with me....i will have to facilitate/drive etc,do you think its doable?

meeting in school soon and dont want to get her hopes up,but this is so ideal for her.

The volunteering, physical and skills are organised by you/your DD on an individual basis. Because you organise them, you can control how much they cost or how much involvement there is.

The expedition involves the kids going off into the wilderness for a bit, in potentially (slightly) dangerous situations. It is therefore a Number One Rule that they have to do the expeditions in groups (so if there is an incident someone can stay with the injured party, two others can go to find help, etc). Hopefully, you will be able to combine with other parents in your group, if necessary, but I should imagine that the school will organise minibuses.

Does the school have any sort of hardship fund that you can call on? Our school has been doing DofE for years and has a large stock of equipment that may be borrowed.

senua...i will find out about help within the school. we will be able to get her equipment easily enough,especially if its from ebay etc,

its the time involved then!! i know it'l be worth it though. just didnt want to start something thats unattainable. bearing in mind,she has 3 younger brothers who might want to follow in her footsteps.....could be a good thing!

If you dd is sporty is she already doing a sport that she could use? (I don't think school sports lessons can count, but most things you do after or outside school would).

Talk to her about what skill she might choose - costs for these vary hugely, but can tend to be expensive (eg music where you need the cost of lessons, instrument, music and maybe an exam if your objective is to pass one) - ask the school what low cost options they recommend and see if any of those appeal.

Volunteering should be free! You have to watch out for training courses though, but often the cost of these can be covered by grants or the body you are volunteering with.

expedition: You will need:
rucksack
sleeping bag
mat to sleep on
walking coat
waterproof trousers
walking boots & socks
hiking clothes
compass
torch
tent
stove + gas
first aid kit
food
campsite + travel costs (ask school what these are likely to be)

Ask the school what can be borrowed from them, consider what you have already and what else could be borrowed from friends/family. Freecycle is also a possible source of some items (ds got an acceptable rucksack and walking jacket from here). Otherwise look out for the sales.

If you can afford it please do, I think most children get a lot out of it and the expeditions especially are great.

DS2 doing DofE Bronze this year. Why was I charged £100 for it ??????

Admittedly I have had nothing to do with it so far. All has been organised by the school.

He did 3 months visiting an old peoples home and that was a good experience for him. Even resulted in him going on an extra day when it was an old mans 90th Birthday, to give him a card.

He is now learning orienteering I think, but I'd stilllike to know where my £100 is being used. I never went to the meeting about it all

I'll be going to the meeting then!!!!

She doesn't just have to do it with the school. My dd goes to air cadets, and is doing the Dof E bronze as part of it, and a lot of the costs are subsidised.

DD utterly loves cadets for all the things she has done (she has been gliding, camping, various sports matches, she has also got a residential for a week in August and is going to the Fairford Air Tattoo for 4 days) and I really recommend it. It is also not at all costly - dd's subs are £15 per quarter and a hell of a lot is included, I have only had to buy some camouflage gear (cheap from army surplus stores) and parade shoes.

DD will be borrowing expedition kit etc for DofE from the air cadets.

Lazymum - If you want to know I suggest you ask the school. There is an entry fee of £11.50 for Bronze and Silver, £17.25 for Gold. I would guess that the rest of it is related to the expedition but I don't know. I operated the scheme for a couple of Boys' Brigade companies. We only ever charged the entry fee. We owned a lot of equipment for expeditions (tents, compasses, stoves, etc.) and encouraged the boys to do activities which would keep the cost down.

I think I'd better reread the email I was sent about it.

Found the email and it looks like I fell for this one.

"The total cost involved at Bronze level is £100 which includes the enrolment fee (£11.50) and the cost of both the Practice and the Assessment expeditions. This fee also covers the cost of a new compass and the OS maps needed by each student."

I think the expeditions must be at 4* hotels!

And gold embossed maps.