Duke of Edinburgh scheme

[Welshmum2010]

Is anyone else’s child doing this ? I had always thought this was a sort of charity thing and was to encourage kids who wouldn’t have much oppertunity to be outside or do sports and activities. Turns out the cost makes it the opposite. It’s cost £100s for camping fees, registration and equipment. Also the sports element needs to be something that can be measured so there’s a cost for sports clubs. In my daughters school all the kids (as far as I can tell) are the ones who are already sporty or do other activities out of school. It’s a real shame as I thought it would be helping those who can’t afford these experiences usually.

@Welshmum2010 that's good if she wants too and enjoys it.
I have a feeling though many teens feel they have to sign up (at least going by many Mumsnet threads).

It is quite a lot to pay, in the equipment, in our case a registered sport or skill and for the volunteering one of us had to go once a week which was early evening work hours.

It was ok to do but I did think it's quite limiting for people in some ways.

It's not about that for most DC though like the Cadets they get so much out of it.

I think it is about that for a lot of kids TBH….

It varies. GS did it, school has equipment. We did a free skill, I taught him to cook supplied recipes and photos and school chef signed him off for it, his friend did a free residential for his Gold, think it was something like helping clear a canal or something. We did pay for him to do something more fun which was the most expensive element but our choice. He did his volunteering at a sports club and they let him do his sport there. I can't remember much the expedition cost but I didn't think it was expensive. Walking boots were the only equipment we bought.

The most expensive bit was the trip to Buckingham palace but it was worth it.

Mine are doing it but already go to clubs, some expensive (drama type stuff) and some not (cadets or similar). The expedition itself costs just over £100 plus they can hire tents or stoves from school if needed but I’ve had to shell out for other equipment. I think you could do it on a budget if you had savvy parents or were switched on to this stuff yourself which unfortunately does exclude some kids. Ours hasn’t been the best organised so far to be honest, lots of the costs have been quite last minute.

I think there is an element of challenging yourself so some elements will seem fun/easy and others won't. For my GS the bit he didn't fancy was the residential with strangers. He loved it and 2 years on is renting a student house with someone he made friends with on that residential and still in touch with others.

Teachers aren’t prepared to do it for free any more and I don’t blame them.

Honestly 2 of mine did it (15 years apart). They both did the Silver and hated it!
Dd3 did the Girl Guides Gold award and loved it.
D of E was expensive, fairly badly organised and had elements difficult to do and evidence (eg volunteering)

This is the same for us. Our school organised it all including the expedition and training in house, plus they lend all the camping equipment and a lot of the walking kit from a central store so it is very reasonable cost wise.

My DC fulfilled the other requirements with free school clubs for sports and skills and volunteered at parkrun and rainbows - no cost except time and lifts.

I do get your point that the children who would perhaps most benefit are among those who have more barriers to access. Not just financial but also things like the lifts and time to support. Shift working low waged parents are not going to be in a position to commit to getting their kids to and from cubs through the winter for eg.

This is a much wider societal issue and not limited to DofE though I don't think.

It's better that it doesn't count for university entry. It is quite onerous in a few ways and many families would find it hard to do.

TBF you could say the same about A Levels...

Really? In what way are A levels the same as volunteering, kit and skill lessons you pay for

What do you mean?

The whole point of the scheme is that it takes the young people out of their comfort zone.
It is supposed to be a challenge.

Yes but isn't going to Cadets (or whatever) already a challenge?

Our school outsource it to Urdd.
each level gets more expensive no matter whether you need to borrow equipment or not, it’ paying the staff that costs a lot but it’s either that or they don’t offer it.

Ds1 is currently doing bronze through scouts/explorers (as he is one). Cost £135 to do it plus any associated costs. He did cycling which cost nothing as we own the bike, got his scout leader to sign off his Strava runs. Volunteering was litter picking locally, cost nothing at all as grabbers, bags etc provided by the local environmental team. The only real cost was the skill for which he joined a club so weekly session cost.

The other cost is of course the food, clothing, backpacks etc for the expedition but we had a fair amount of stuff anyway which hasn't been so bad.

His school will only take the top 40 kids in the year who apply and their cost is in the mid hundreds. I think the Scout way is far better.

@Pascha wouldn't he be doing those things in Scouts anyway?
Does he have to do everything twice?

What's difficult about volunteering?

It can be. Depends on the group and how committed you are. My dd found Scouts far more challenging than DofE, but that’s because she threw herself into it ,had an excellent leader, loved the things they were doing and was rather charmingly devoted to all things Scout-y!

Well, no.

That might be something they are already doing.

If it weren't, then I guess it could potentially be part of the skills section.

The point of there being the different types of things you have to do, is to ensure the young people try something new. The point of there not being 'set standards' to meet, is that this is about everyone being able to access everything starting at the level they are at and then showing some improvement / growth. It is to challenge YP to get out of their comfort zone, without their being barriers of ability.

I only paid £30 registration for my DD’s, school provided the staff, most camping equipment etc and had sleeping bags and backpacks for any that didn’t own them. We paid £10 per night for campsite fees and provided food. The sports activity can be anything, park run is free. Its as expensive and complex as you want to make it, a friends kid did their expedition by sailing dinghy, a friend of theirs on horseback, needless to say they didn’t go to my kids school which was in special measures!!!

Oh and it was free for pupil premium kids and they got a grant for a club/skill type activity towards the cost (though my DD’s cost zero anyway, park run and church choir)

Nope. The requirement at his level is 1 hour a week for 13 weeks for two activities and double that so 26 weeks of a third. The stuff he does as a Scout is helpful in some respects but he still has to commit to an activity for a minimum time per week per activity and that's on him to get done and turn up to. Ds doesn't do a regular sport anymore. If he had, he could have just signed his sessions off with a coach and that would have been fine.
The expedition is all arranged and monitored but they still have to organise themselves with regard to food, tents, routes etc.

DofE is an exercise in resilience and growth as they learn to stick at something beyond what is common. It's more than just doing a club every week.