Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme query

RichardD1970

What about the Explorers branch of the Scouts? My daughter is just starting to get hers organised with them.

Gloomendoom

Is there a possibility that she could carry on participating at her old school or even another nearby school?

One of the expeditions I did, we teamed up with a local school with a rather rough reputation. It was rather amusing because the 'rough' children followed the all the D of E rules to the letter while our group used our initiative and bent the rules as far as we could to our our own advantage.

pavlovs_dog

mountainofdebt wrote: »

What I meant was if only 3 people were interested, would the school be interested in doing it as you never know where that spark in others....or have I been watching too many disney films?

The BEL (basic expedition leader) course costs at least £300, and requires a significant investment of time from the person wishing to pass the qualification. This is the minimum qualification that you ought to have to lead DofE at Bronze and Silver level (for Gold you are supposed to have a mountain leader qualification which is a step above the BEL).

You then need to train the pupils in map reading, camp craft etc. We usually do one hour a week after school from Jan-May/June, as school won't give us time in time table. You'll also need to ensure that they are on track with their other sections (skill, fitness, volunteering).

Pupils must complete a practice expedition under supervision before completing their real expo. If school will release staff, there is a cost of £165 for supply per day, per member of teaching staff. Legally this cost cannot be passed on to parents. If school cannot/will not fund this, you need to find staff who are willing to give up their weekends/holidays. You need 1 member of staff to every 10 pupils, and if the group is of mixed gender, then you need at least one staff member of each gender for an overnight stay. If none of those staff are qualified to drive minibuses (or you have too many pupils and gear to fit in minibuses) then you will have the additional expense of hiring a coach. For safety reasons, you will need staff to man checkpoints along the route to make sure that everyone remains accounted for. You cannot man a checkpoint and drive a minibus at the same time, meaning that you are effectively a man down before you even begin. Remember that all of these costs are duplicated about a month later when they do their actual expedition.


There are legitimate costs involved here, and it is one example of where economies of scale really work. For Silver and Bronze, 40-60 kids per year has worked well for us. Our Gold group was kept smaller (36) for practical reasons (kids+staff we could fit in two large minibuses), and priority was given to pupils who had completed Bronze and Silver with us through the school, then to pupils who had completed one of the previous awards through the local youth centre. To run it properly, you need to invest in training the staff who will deliver it, invest in equipment (we provide rucksacks, tents, cookers and fuel to our kids) and pay cover costs.

thegirlintheattic

If you are not too far from old school she can still do it there if they agree. I did mine at school but then finished it attached to another school when I went to uni.

bobbles_lass

Hello,

I've lurked a long time on these forums, but never actually posted.
As I'm a scout leader, guide leader, recent D of E completer and moved house several times during all of that, I might know some useful stuff, hopefully.

You can do D of E through Scouting, or Guiding, or School, and some local councils also run groups.
It isn't generally particularly common in Scouting or Guiding, but it is definitely possible. In scouts (which is open to boys and girls equally) the section for 14-18 year olds is called Explorers, while in Guiding (girls only environment) the section for 14-25 year olds is called senior section (which encompasses all sorts of different options, mainly Ranger groups and Young Leaders). If she's interested in getting involved in either of those (I'm biased, but both are fantastic, and offer really good value for money, and life experiences, and skills etc) you can ask the local leaders how to get involved with D of E through them (it varies from town to town, but is always possible!)

She could stay on the books of the old school if she's almost done, and they are happy to have her (might affect their insurance?), or alternatively, as I found most flexible, is to search for my local county council run group. Again, not everywhere will run this - but could be a good option, try googling for youth services in your county.

Good luck :-)

nearlyrich

My two did D of E with Air cadets I did it with the local youth club in the 70s and they still run it now as I know some of the youth workers, this is in England however... I hope you manage to sort it it is a great scheme and as a Mum I was very proud to attend St James Palace for the Gold award ceremony which the duke actually attended. It gives young adults an edge as they have proved themselves in difficult situations.

ceebeeby

Guides definitely does dofe ... Ask local guide leader for details

kingfisherblue

Our local council run D of E for those who cannot access it in other ways. This might be an option for the OP.

MX5huggy

Another option may be the access DoE through Girls Brigade

http://www.girls-brigade-scotland.org.uk/girls/brigaders/DoEAward