Silver Dofe

[Applejack87]

Hi , my dd is in year 10 & is currently chosen to do army as part of CCF , we’ve just received info regarding the DofE , I feel it would be good for her to do things that she wouldn’t have usually tried. however she seems reluctant , it is her choice so I’m not going to push it , she does karate twice a week which she’s been doing since she was 7 other than that she doesn’t do any other activities . Is it really worth doing DofE ?

So many do DofE these days, it doesn't stand out anymore. Other hobbies/activities are likely to be regarded equally or better.

If she continues to Gold DofE it is definitely worth it, unis DO take it into account when giving offers...

Thankyou for your replies , While I think hobbies are important I don’t want to push her too hard . I read a post on here that a girl achieved the gold was academic but was turned down by 5 unis for whatever reason .
It’s also hard to get voluntary work atm especially with the pandemic , my dd loves animals but no sanctities or kennels are taking anyone on

It was worth it for my ds. He learnt a lot and gained a lot of skills.
The volunteering was amazing for him for his personal development. I don’t think you need to do the DofE itself, but to commit to developing a skill, doing an activity and doing some charity work is so beneficial.
It was also something that kept him busy and away from gadgets for a bit each week!

I don't think you should be doing DofE for CV for Uni application.
If she does it it should be for personal growth and enjoyment.

For DD1 doing Bronze was really valuable.

• the expedition pushed her to achieve things she didn't know she could, and provided teamworking practice
• it provided an incentive to learn to ice skate (some distance away)
• she did volunteering in an area she was considering as a career choice

I read a post on here that a girl achieved the gold was academic but was turned down by 5 unis for whatever reason

That would be because her grades weren't up to the places she was applying too, or she was applying to something highly oversubscribed so luck of the draw, or she didn't have enough relevant outside experience (eg for medicine).

x-post with Beech

Do it because she wants to do it not because it's for her cv. Seriously no university or employer takes it into account over any other extra curricular especially because it's mostly offered by schools and orgs that attract already advantaged young people. My DD's was in cadets which offered similar

My dd did gold dofe.
Gold definitely looks good on a uni application as it takes some getting.
As there are 4 different sections to complete it is a recognised achievement.

Standing in St James Palace with dd as she met Prince Philip was amazing.

Beech and TeenPlusTwenties have nailed it - it is about personal growth and development. An opportunity to try some new things in a well rounded way. I’m a DofE leader - have been for 20 years. My DS now doing bronze - can absolutely see the value to him as a type of growing up activity and becoming more independent. The best awards are where young people take ownership rather than parents organising everything for them. There has been huge value over the last few months for participants in thinking about how they spend time in lockdown and getting out in their local areas. Probably does have some value for employers - less so for Uni applications. The participants doing it just for that tend to be the less motivated ones.

There's a lot of evidence that keeping girls mentally healthy in their teens can be assisted by keeping physically active, keeping mentally active away from school work and volunteering to help others. That's the D of E programme in a nutshell.

Both my two did bronze - though dd2 didn't get to do the expedition due to COVID. My older (less sporty) one did silver. She is still doing her volunteering as a rainbows leader now aged 18. I think it's a great programme for girls actually.

If she continues to Gold DofE it is definitely worth it, unis DO take it into account when giving offers...

NO THEY DONT!!!!!!

Unis don’t take DofE into account . They used to years ago but now it is pretty common . I did DofE and all my DC have or are doing . In my view the main reason for doing it is it is great for personal development . I ended up in a really tough situation on one of my expeditions. That was over thirty years ago and that life experience was invaluable and has stayed with me after all these years . My DC have also been faced with challenging situations ( Really bad weather , injuries etc ) but even just organising kit, food and routes and managing difficult / weak team mates plus volunteering provides a positive contribution to life skills. I would have thought that CCF would go a long way to providing that too but I do know cadets who are also doing gold. It sounds to me like she will have many of the bases already covered so it won’t be much more additional time. There are some remote volunteering opportunities - look at DofE website for ideas . I have a DC who is doing remote volunteering for the Blue Cross- I mention because of the interest your DD has. Not quite the same but it is still something to commit to. They can also swap later on to a non remote activity if things improve.

What @capercaillie said.

Don't make your child do DofE "for their CV", but choosing to do it and going in with the right attitude has been great for so many youngsters.

I agree that DoE should be done because the child wants to, not for CV points. I interview young people for a summer work abroad programme and it seems like pretty much everyone has their bronze these days. It definitely doesn’t stand out like it used to and to be honest whilst I acknowledge it I won’t spend any time discussing it.

Fewer go on to do silver and it’s quite rare I get a gold applicant and for gold award holders I am very interested. This is where I disagree that that it’s not looked at by universities and employers. It’s not in an extra points thing and won’t be taken into account that way, but it is a great show that the young person can balance extra curricular stuff with their studies (bearing in mind it’s done usually in exam years). When I ask applicants why they didn’t continue after bronze, there are two answers. The first is they didn’t really enjoy it (fair enough) but the second is that parents and or school advised them to give it up so they could concentrate on their studies. So to continue to gold says a lot about the abilities of the child to manage their time. The perfect skill for university study.

Zodle Though re 'managing time' presumably the same can be said for any pupil showing any time-heavy commitment out of school e.g.

• outside job / volunteering / being a young carer
• guides / scouts / cadets
• sport / dance / drama / music

I don't think we should discourage healthy ambitions & activities. Silver DoE gives her a sense of achievement or will be fun with friends. She shouldn't be discouraged from that.

The only problem that she’s finding at the moment is the volunteering due to covid I’ve phoned so many companies to no avail
Any advice please ? She loves animals but nobody is taking anyone on

@Applejack87

The only problem that she’s finding at the moment is the volunteering due to covid I’ve phoned so many companies to no avail Any advice please ? She loves animals but nobody is taking anyone on

Why are you phoning for her? They won't be impressed by that.

Look at your Local Aurhority's website to see if they have a volunteering hub, and think about things that can be done remotely. I've seen charities advertising for help running their social media accounts or websites, and for people to be penpals or telephone befrienders to isolated people. Also, there maybe opportunities in school, e.g. prefecting, helping to run an after-school club, or supporting another student with reading or homework. She could even set up her own club, e.g. start an online book club via Zoom.

She needs to set up her own volunteering. Can she see whether there is anyone locally who needs help walking a dog for example. Maybe go on one of the covid Facebook support groups. With covid issues they were willing to accept a neighbour or similar signing rather than an organised group.

Yeah as others have said, I’m not sure why you are phoning round animal organizations trying to set up the service element of an award for your teenager.
The award is maximized as a valuable experience if you do it as intended - ie the teen decides what sort of service they want to provide and works hard to arrange it themselves, is able to consider other options and new routes and learns to think for themselves.
If mummy makes a few calls and then nags dd every week to get in the car because she needs to go to the animal rescue and scoop shit from the exercise yard, it’s a bit pointless all round.
Will you be printing off her kit list, checking she has everything, and packing it for her too?
I love D of E.
But in all honesty it has become devalued by the amount of over-invested parents.

@TeenPlusTwenties yes of course. But the DoE packages it all quite nicely and puts quantifiable achievements to it.

Anything that makes a candidate stand out a bit more by showing they can juggle everything they have in their life is good.

@Applejack87 I also agree that it’s time for you to stand away from sorting out the volunteer work. It doesn’t look good and could actually be going against your daughter.

Completely agree @nachthexe

You should see some of the threads on the Higher Ed boards, from parents of 18 yr old who have gone away to university, or, even worse the 'WhatIWishIKnewAboutUniversity' facebook group. Full of parents who had to pack for their dc, or take them and then unpack for them, make their beds. Parents who want to shop for them and who want to speak to the universities about any wobble they have.

I guess they will be the parents who have not given their dc chance to learn to do things and work things out for themselves at this stage.

I think she will really struggle to get a volunteering role under age 16. DS was going to do DofE silver this year (yr12) but I've told him to write it off. The expedition was postponed in first lockdown, nobody wants random 16 year olds in as volunteers and he does his sport anyway (when sport is allowed). With disrupted learning I think his energies are better focussed on good grades.

Have you looked on the DofE site? There are lots of ideas for doing volunteering (and the other sections) during lockdown.

I think it is of value in itself and also somewhat for jobs. Jobs more than universities to be honest. My advice would be to go straight for Gold though. You don't need to have done bronze or silver beforehand and it doesn't take much longer.