The Duke of Edinburgh Award is made up of four sections – expedition, physical, skill and volunteering.

In order to fulfil the requirements for the physical, skill and volunteering sections at Bronze level, students must complete a minimum of 3 months activity, with the guidance being that it should be for at least an hour a week. In addition, students must complete a further 3 months activity on one of their chosen programmes (physical/skill/volunteering).

There are many different activities which may be used to complete these different sections. Examples include:

  • Physical – team sports or individual sports, anything from rugby to swimming – individuals create a specific programme which is relevant to them.
  • Skill – cooking, music, art, drama, DIY – any activity involving learning something new and in which it is possible to show improvement.
  • Volunteering – helping out at a Beaver or Brownie group, or at an appropriate club at school – the main point of this section is that the individuals give time without receiving a financial reward.

In order to complete the fourth section, students are required to plan, train for and complete an expedition of 2 days and 1 night.

At The Gregg School, we offer an after-school club to students in Year 9 enabling them to develop and fulfil these requirements. The team of qualified expedition trainers is made up of staff members and other volunteers. The club runs from February until the presentation evening in June. Students must commit to attending all of the training sessions which cover the relevant skills to facilitate completion of their final expedition.

Participants take part in a training weekend in April where they have the opportunity to practise what they have learned. This weekend also provides the students with an insight into what their final assessed expedition will be like in June.

Examples of training sessions:

  • Camp craft – care and use of tents
  • Camp cooking – ready, steady, cook on a Trangia
  • First Aid – theory and practical sessions
  • Map work – how to use grid references and bearings
  • Completion of route cards
  • Country Code
  • Rucksacks – what to bring & how to pack

Those students that complete their Bronze Award by October half term will be invited to join the Silver Award. The requirements are increased so that the volunteering section must be 6 months in length, and one of skills or physical must also be 6 months, with the other being 3 months. More independence is expected as the students build on their skills from Bronze Award to plan their practice and assessed expeditions, which are 2 nights and 3 days in length. 

A student in possession of a Bronze and Silver DofE Award before leaving school are able to prove they are independent, hard-working and resilient.