Duke of Edinburgh

[ridiculuss]

Our school has introduced a new rule for bronze DofE that students can't do the expedition until they've completed at least 2 of their 3 other sections (skills, physical or volunteering). Is this common?

I'm guessing it's an incentive, and to manage numbers, as they do get large numbers signing up that never complete the award.

I guess it might also be due to timings in the school year? The expeditions tend to be in better weather over the summer term towards the end of the school year, and they probably want to be the culmination of the DofE so they can get that year group signed off within the school year before some move on to the next stage the year after.

It was similar when DC did DofE. For many (not all) the expedition was the 'fun bit' - walking and camping with friends, planning meals, a couple of days out of school. Unfortunately the regular commitment to volunteer wasn't seen as being quite so much fun so lots would do the expedition and then drop out without completing.

School then made it mandatory for the DC to have either completed one or two other sections or to have evidenced a significant chunk of activity before the expedition so that they weren't taking DC away on a 'jolly' who had no intention of ever completing the award.

yes, DC's school had this too. Otherwise too many people treat the expedition as a jolly and are not really interested in the award.

If you start the award in September and do the expedition in the summer term there's no reason not to have completed (or at least be well on the way to completing, and the school was fine with that as well) two other sections.

At my DD school they like to have signed off by the practise but its not set in stone.
we have our practise this weekend and we have complete and the other 3 weeks away and the school have oked this

It’s a lot of hassle for the school to organise expeditions and practise etc. it runs on a lot of goodwill.it’ll be because many do the expedition and not the other parts and honestly the other parts also help develop them as people.

This 2/3 completion was a rule at DC school too, IIRC. It was a little bit of a soft boundary, if pupil could show they had done 1/3 and were 80% done with 2nd.

Yes same here. They sign up in October and are expected to complete both 3 month sections before the expedition which is in May and the 6 month one by the end of the summer term in July.