d of e - is the practice expedition compulsory?

[SileneOliveira]

I am almost at the end of my tether over my DS's silver D of E. He is so disorganised, never passes on messages, it's me who is organising the parkrun, and the volunteering - feels like me doing the sodding thing and not him.

Anyway. He has today produced a crumpled note from his bag with proposed dates for the practice expedition during the Easter holidays. One of the set of dates works for us. However, if the other set of dates is chosen, we are out of the country on holiday. DS is unable to tell me whether he will be allowed to do the final expedition in June (canoeing, not hiking) without doing the practice. There are also separate basic canoeing, water safety and first aid training sessions which he will be able to attend.

School are asking for the money - understandable - but I don't want to fork out £250 for the practice and final expedition if it won't count.

And there's no sodding way he's doing Gold unless he sorts himself out.

Our local DofE group does canoeing for silver expedition....in Essex. I think it sounds brilliant.

Ours didn't travel to a more challenging place.
DD did silver thru school & all expedition routes within 25 miles of school. They were visiting churches on the way (many!).
I don't think the volunteer supervisors could have travelled further.
There were gentle hills en route... I exaggerate to suggest otherwise. But certainly no mountains or marshes. Very agricultural. No 'wild' country.

The kids even stopped for coffee at a mom's house on Bronze practice.

DS currently in throes of tent planning for his Bronze.

Several groups got lost, so navigation was challenged even in our agricultural area.

The kids even stopped for coffee at a mom's house on Bronze practice
That is not allowed!!!

Its not supposed to be wild country at bronze, just that they can travel competently, follow a planned route and camp without adult intervention. I would have declared the exped void if my groups had done that ( and I'm known for being a soft touch with them!!)

I'm amazed they give you a choice of dates!

That was only for the canoeing - the hikers were told one fixed date. It's because there are twice as many kids as there are canoes so they had to be split into two separate sessions for the practice. When it comes to the real thing, they will be all together. (I am assuming some other school got first dibs on some of the canoes during the Easter holidays).

DS's gold scout expedition which is similar to D of E bronze was less challenging, but that's the idea surely. They started in Glasgow and walked along the West Highland Way, stopping at Gregg's for steak bakes for lunch. Camped at a scout campsite. Walked on well-marked paths the whole way. Leader meeting them at regular points along the path to make sure they were on the right track.

School have been offering D of E for decades, they have it honed to perfection in terms of organisation and supervision. DS might be short on detail but that doesn't mean school isn't providing it, if you see what I mean.

I'm amazed they give you a choice of dates!
I negotiate with my groups what dates to go for. I only have small groups and I'm not in a school situation. As there are minimum and maximum numbers for a team it's in my interests as well as the groups to make sure everyone is ok with the arrangements.
Seeing that we have a minimum of two expeds to get in per award ( the practise can be repeated until the supervisor is happy with the level of competency of the group) and we have, generally speaking,from Easter until the clocks change in October to get them in it takes some ccoordinating to get everyone together between family arrangements, exams, holidays, hospital appointments etc!

DS's gold scout expedition which is similar to D of E bronze

The Gold CSA is lower than Bronze DofE.
The Bronze DofE is equivalent to the Platinum CSA

(Silver DofE = Diamond CSA and
Gold DofE = Queens Scout Award equivalent)
Not exactly, you have to do a bit more for the CSAs and QSA, but in terms of levels for the Expeditions, that is how they match up.

I agree with NotaCoolDad that lljkk's group organisers are being lax.
Not the fault of the dc, of course, but the whole point of DofE is that is is supposed to challenge them, and to take them out of their comfort zone. Even more so by Silver, than Bronze.