Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) award is the world’s leading youth achievement award and its popularity continues to grow with 130 countries and territories now offering DofE programmes.
The award scheme helps young people to gain essential skills to successfully navigate adult life: independence, team-work, problem-solving, resilience, confidence, respect for their community, an appreciation of their environment and is highly regarded by employers and universities. DofE is a life-changing experience, providing a pivotal building block for young people’s futures.
"My DofE experience was full of fun and adventure and on top of that I learnt new skills, made news friends and challenged myself. I loved every second of it!"
Grace Stanton, Bronze and Silver Award Achiever
“Doing my DofE awards at QE has been really rewarding. It is hard work and a big commitment but have I learnt a lot of new skills and I had a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend it!”
Cai Foster-Wilson, Bronze Award Achiever and Silver Award Participant
"DofE has been fun, not only walking in a group, but the other aspects too. It stretched me to do volunteering activities, like working in a care home, that I wouldn't have otherwise had the chance to do."
Maya Vaughan, Bronze and Silver Award Achiever
In 2016 QE became a DofE licensed organisation and we have since developed our structure for the three DofE awards on offer. We offer the Bronze award to Year 9, the Silver award for Year 10 and the Gold award for Sixth Form students.
At QE, the number of students participating in the DofE award is one of the highest in the county, with 92 students completing their awards in 2019/2020.
Volunteering - Working With the Elderly
QE DofE Bronze Student, Andy Sedgemore, reading to members of the Crediton Memory Café.
Crediton Memory Café welcomes anyone in the area living with a memory problem, together with the person who cares for them, meeting once a week for tea, games, singing and to reminisce.
The Café has welcomed a number of DofE students from QE, through a project initiated by the Crediton Community Bookshop, to read to their members as part of their awards, which brought back fond memories for them all. This kind of activity is particularly helpful for people with dementia. The Memory Café members look forward to meeting again later this year and welcoming more students from QE to read to them.
The Crediton Community Bookshop said; "We are very proud to be pioneering this project with the Memory Cafe, matching DofE volunteers with reading opportunities that make a meaningful difference in our community.
Participants of the DofE award will need to identify what they would like to do for the four sections at Bronze and Silver level.
These sections are:
- Volunteering
- Physical
- Skill
- Expedition
and all have different time scales.
At Bronze Award two activities must be done for a minimum of three months and one activity must be done for six months. Students will also need to participate in a one day practice expedition and two day qualifying expedition to complete their Bronze DofE award.
At Silver Award two activities must be done for six months and one activity must be done for three months. If you go straight on to Silver without completing your Bronze you will have to add a further six months onto one of your Silver activities. Students will also need to participate in a two day practice expedition and a three day qualifying expedition to complete their Silver DofE Award.
At Gold Award you are required to complete five sections;
- Volunteering
- Physical
- Skill
- Expedition
- Residential
At Gold Award two activities must be done for a minimum of 12 months and one activity must be done for six months. If you go straight to Gold DofE or have progressed from the Bronze award you will have to add a further six months on to one of your Gold activities. At Gold level you must complete a five day residential. You also must complete a four day practice expedition and qualifying expedition.
DofE Timescales
Plenty of help and advice will be on offer in school as to what activities students can choose. Regular meetings are held during lunchtimes for students to log onto their eDofE accounts and discuss their section progress with a DofE leader. The DofE is open to all students and financial support is also available to FSM students.
More information is available through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Website and the following links:
If you have any questions about of DofE Awards at QE, please get in touch with our DofE Manager, Miss Alice Morgan at; [email protected]
Kit List Video
Alice - DofE from Queen Elizabeth's School on Vimeo.