The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a registered charity in England and Wales (1072490) and Scotland (SC038254).
Any young person can do their DofE – regardless of ability, gender, background or location. Achieving an Award isn’t a competition or about being first. It’s all about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries.
Through a DofE programme young people have fun, make friends, improve their self-esteem and build confidence. They gain essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working, communication and drive, enhancing CVs and uni and job applications. Top employers recognise the work-ready skills Award holders bring to their business.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award demands that students are stretched beyond what is normal to them, with each one having to complete, in their own time, three different activities including: a physical activity, volunteering their time to help others, and learning a new skill. The students throw themselves into these occupations with gusto, taking part in activities as diverse as mentoring, boxing, playing the piano, crocheting, running, leading dungeons and dragons’ sessions, and reading to younger children in local libraries.
At the same time as this, the students also take part in a period of intense training in school, split between team building skills, map-reading skills, first aid training and preparing for the expeditions by being able to erect a tent and cook and prepare food whilst fundamentally living in a field with limited staff input.
The students (and staff) very much look forward to practising their navigation on the hills of Richmond Park for the practice expedition, before they are then let loose to navigate the South Downs, spend a night under canvas, and fend for them themselves on the qualifying expedition in July of each year.
The opportunities for RUAH demonstration within the DofE are fantastic and often pupils that sign up fully encompass everything that we are so proud of in SJBC students and our wider school community.
