Duke of Edinburgh award - bronze

[Linneasweet]

DD want to do this, I been on the info meeting in school but think DD wants to do it for the wrong reasons, she says it will help with uni applications while I like the fact she would do it for the community side and be more responsible. Can someone please explain it for me? Does it help with uni applications?

Neither of my DC could do their expedition unless all other sections were complete either.

The school got them all enrolled pretty quick in September, so that they had loads of time to get their sections done. Most kids are doing skills and activities through the school anyway, so that seemed fairly straightforward.

Volunteering was a bit more of a challenge, but even then it is only 3 months worth of it at Bronze.

Practice expedition was just before the Easter hols and full expedition was just before the May half term, so really no excuse for not having the sections done by then.

Milady and Margo that makes sense. The expeds have to be done in summertime hours ie before the clocks change in October. I have been as late as the second weekend in October with the camps as sometimes its difficult to get the minimum number required for a team (+ two more if in case any drop out on the day!)

I've just signed DD1 up to this. It seems almost expected at her school, regardless of what else the child might be doing. I think it's great when it works well for the child but I can see also how it might end up a box ticking exercise - time consuming but of no real value. At this point - she wants to do it, so fine. No idea how we're going to manage the volunteering. Even the school admitted during the presentation for children in her age group it can be hard to find opportunities.

ovienna
A lot of our kids volunteer at a juniour youth club. They help set it out and play games with the younger kids. Could something like that be an option?

No idea how we're going to manage the volunteering. Even the school admitted during the presentation for children in her age group it can be hard to find opportunities.

This is where having parental involvement really can be helpful - both in terms of finding something and getting to it. (There may be limited places within the school for helping with clubs etc.) Something you might think would be an obvious bet, like conservation volunteering may not allow unaccompanied under 16s or not be on weekends or only once a month and not be accessible without a car.

Parkrun volunteering can count. No age limit.

The thing is it IS good for the personal statement if the only other thing the student has to offer is their interest in shopping, gaming and getting drunk. Also as part of the careers department our final paragraph that the college writes is on extra curricular and how the student is able to balance college work with extra curricular activities. That they are motivated and willing to engage with a range of opportunities. Something unis do want to know.

Errol I need this to be something DD can manage herself without massive involvement from me. Like, her ability to volunteer cannot swing on DH and me. She and her sister already do loads of after school activities, we are maxed out in terms of coordinating and transporting etc as it is.

notacooldad I have not heard of an organisation like that locally but thanks for the thought.

,Ovienna
It's not an organisation. Doesn't your town have youth clubs?
Most councils have a Young People's Services that run youth clubs and usually have two sessions, usually a teatime club for the younger ones and then a senior session for the over 12s.

Or she could help out at Brownies or Beavers, that type of thing.

No idea how we're going to manage the volunteering. Even the school admitted during the presentation for children in her age group it can be hard to find opportunities And you have to be quick as most of the usual volunteer opportunities for DofE fill up pretty quickly.

Check local library service for D of E volunteering. My son did that for Bronze.

For Silver he is thinking Young Leaders through Explorers (big Scouts.)

Old folks homes may take volunteers to come chat to the residents and serve tea etc.

Here's some of the things that my group are currently doing for the volunteering section.

Helping out a nature reserve near us
Playing games with the older people at a dementia unit
Helping with small animals at a large pet store
Helping with coaching at the u 9s ( I think ) football
Being a 'friend of.......' cemetery. Basically a volunteer group that help keep the cemetery tidy
'A friend of..........wood same as above but helping out in the local woods with pathways
2x park run volunteers
Junior youth club volunteer
Helping out at the public art project.
There's a few that do brownies, beavers and cubs.
Another one us actively involved in her swimming club
Some help out with lunch time clubs at school.
Hope there's some ideas there.

notacooldad We are in a borough in Greater London and I don't honestly know whether they are funding that service currently. I have never heard of people going to something like that but the borough is huge - it's possible they could have one somewhere and I'm just not aware of it.

Those are good alternative ideas - thank you.

I can see that for a child that does next to nothing with their time, it’s a good idea. These are the children who are least likely to get involved of course.

My MC children did it because the school arranged it and nearly everyone had a go. DD1 volunteered with the lower boarding house and DD2 volunteered with her dancing school in beginners classes. The walk wasn’t difficult but DD2 was initially disqualified because another girl blew the whistle 50m from the finish, within sight of the adjudicator, to celebrate. Aparently DD and the others should have known she was going to do this and grabbed the whistle off her. What DD learnt was how to complain and get reinstated! She also learnt you cannot trust stupid friends with THE whistle.

If you are not interviewed for university, and the vast majority are not, it makes not one jot of difference. My DD was interviewed, but they wanted her to demonstrate her thoughts on French and Italian, not her DofE volunteering. However, there is still something to be said for young people who can juggle lots of activities and get top exam results.

I also bet Swansea offered places on unfilled courses to loads of non DofE holders. That story should be taken with a pinch of salt. Universities who want BCC will often offer to CCC grade holders - bums on seats. DofE has nothing to do with it.

It’s perfectly ok to do it for a bit of fun. It certainly can help some children think of others. I know a Gold holder who got no university offers at all and she was also a 6th form scholar. No one phoned her up on the strength of her Gold DofE.

Another DofE leader here. I now don't talk about the value for university applications unless they use one section to do a separate project or activity that does link to what they want to study - and I do now push this at Gold. Employers value it though, particularly going through to Gold but even Bronze can help get Saturday jobs etc. But more than that - I've had students who started a sport for DofE and carried it on afterwards and it's become a passion; volunteered beyond their DofE just because they enjoyed it etc.

One of my sons said the expedition was the worst experience of his life (bronze) but even so I am glad he and his 4 siblings (some of whom did higher too) did it. He now knows he is not that keen on some of those types of things (and keeps going on country walks now so he seems to have changed his mind anyway).

It does not matter what reason she wants to do it it will be good for her whatever. If you cannot afford it that is a different matter and she certainly get into the very best universities without doing any D of E type stuff at all, as it is getting very high grades etc that counts.

The exped is like marmite! Some kids love and sail through it, others hate every second from the route planning to the second the have finished and are getting back on the mini bus to go home.
I have to say one of my proudest moments in my work career was about 3 years ago when one of the lads who hated any outdoor activity completed his final day. He was unfit, over weight, hated walking and really struggled. Two people dropped out at the end of the first day and when i got the call to say this i honestly thought he was one of them. I was doing remote supervision the following day and I didn't thing he was going to do it. The group came in well over expected time but I knew they were safe. He got to the car park but hadn't realised it was over and he had completed. I will never forget how happy he was and how supportive his team mates were.They were cheering him and hugging him.
I think I got something in my eye at that point!

My oldest daughter is really fit and sporty and spends ages outside. She absolutely hated the expedition part of the bronze, really hated everything about it!! She loved the volunteering though and it taught her that she was really good with children.

If a child is already doing a lot of sport and extracurricular stuff involving leadership are there any further benefits from doing the DofE?

I am concerned that my DD is already overloaded in terms of school work the pressure of GCSES and extracurricular activities and DofE just might be one commitment too many. I feel that there’s a lot of pressure to do it just because everyone else is but for those already gaining skills through other activities is there any real advantage?

What constitutes a lot of extracurricular activity BackInTime? Ds is doing the bronze and he has to attend football training once weekly (takes out a full evening) and plays matches for two different clubs (one takes up all Saturday morning and one takes up all Sunday morning). Bear in mind that if your dd is doing a lot of sport - this will take care of one component of the bronze award without doing anything extra (the sport element)

What the D of E are looking for if you choose to do an activity THAT you are already doing is significant progression
One of our kids plays ice hockey and wanted to do that. An outline of what progression could be expected in 10 months was drawn up by him and his coach.
In that time he got his level one cischingvaward and progressed to a dufferent team. His MVP was also recorded as more evidence of how he had developed.
Just playing football week in and week out shouldn't be allowed unless evidence can be provided that a developmental ' journey has taken place.

As PP have said, existing extracurricular activities may count for DofE (for instance in the 6th form helping to run the robotics club counted as the volunteering element) - so if they're doing a good mix I guess what is added is the 'progression', ensuring the participation is regular over a period, and the expedition (map reading skills etc).

I really don't know why the word ' 'that' came out in capital letters!!!