Anyone know anything about school D of E trips?

[mumoverseas]

wasn't really sure which section to post this in but here goes.
DS aged 15 did his bronze last year, currently doing his silver. We've just been told that the big trip/expedition at the end is 5 days in Cyprus and the cost is 'no more than around £1,500 (we are abroad at the moment so the price given was in local currency which I've just worked out).
To me (and a lot of other parents) that is silly money and simply not affordable. Not getting any sense out of school (this is only the second year they've done DoE) about whether they will be running a more affordable option for those pupils who don't have multi-millionaire parents.
Does anyone know if schools running the program have to offer a reasonably priced (ie more local trip) or can they just do the one that hardly anyone can afford to go on?

Also, if the children don't finish their silver what happens next year when they want to do gold at college? Can they do it or will they have to finish/do again the silver?
TIA

Hello

This sounds really off, and not in the spirtt of D of E at all - through various operating authorities, I have been involved with the D of E award - mostly Bronze and Gold, but would have thought that the same applies to silver. School will be the op authority, but your ds doesnt have to do the expedition offered (he could quite easily have exams, clasing dates, be ill etc so there have to be alternatives) - and I certianly wouldnt pay £1500 for any expedition. Our school did 5 days in the Dales, rain and mud and still ticked the box! Something which may be worth exploring are open expeditions through the D of E board - people apply to go away and do training/ expedition in one go - much lower cost and all training etc included. Have a look at the D of E website perhaps - does your ds know any friends who are doing D of E through anywhere else - he may be able to join another group - Scouts, youth group, D of E group etc? Not sure if that helps a lot, but sounds outrageous! Feel free to post any questions etc and I will try to help....

Hi Pickled, thanks for your input Glad I'm not alone thinking it was silly money. Last year they ran a trip that was almost as expensive and when most of the kids didn't sign up for it (due to cost) they put on a more local trek in the desert (we are in the Middle East). We were hoping they'd do something similar this time round but there is no talk of it and at the moment we are in the process of trying to book our flights back to the UK after the exams finish in June and not sure whether to book later flights just in case they do something.
There are no scouts, youth groups etc out here but will oook at the D o E website, hadn't thought of that (baby brain as baby due soon!)

I'm involved with running a Gold scheme and have helped on Bronze and Silver.

Our Gold assessment (5 days) is about £50 - a bit of that is subsidised throguh the cost of other trips. Most trips would be between £15-£60 - includes transport, campsite fees where necessary, and a meal at the end.

It is a shame that they're not offering a cheaper option. They don't in theory have to offer a cheaper trip - but they're also not making the Award accessible to all which is a big part of the central strategy these days.

If they don't finish silver, then they can I guess go onto Gold. The main difference would be that they need to do some of the sections for a longer period of time. Most universities will have an Award group so it's good way to do it

You can do Gold without doing bronze or silver (just have to be 16).
My school (private, UK) organised a Gold trip to France that would have cost loads but more importantly my friends and I didn't want to be with the pervy French teacher, so we went with the local council to Wales instead (cost about £50 plus food!)

Could you or other parents contact DoE central and see if organising your own trip with a teacher's help might work?