The Bronze Award
The Bronze DofE award is launched at the end of Year 8, for a September start for our current Year 9 and 10 students. The award is split up into four sections each contributing towards the final certification. Students will be expected to self lead these sections where possible, particularly where they are already involved in extra-curricular clubs and activities however we will of-course support, provide and guide as much as we can. The expedition session is led by us and will take place at our incredible new outdoor education centre at Dallowgill.
There are three categories students must work towards in order to be invited onto the expedition. Students should make a weekly contribution (i.e. spend an hour a week) working towards each of the three sections. They must complete three months (Or 12 sessions) for two categories and six months (or 24 sessions) of one category, which category they spend more time on is completely up to each student.
This section is about you helping out. The idea of the volunteering section is that you find an opportunity to help out in your local community, including in school, in the local area or in groups, organisations and activities that you are connected with. Lots of you will already do this by being part of organisations like Cadets, Scouts and Youth Clubs. Don’t worry if you can’t think of a volunteering activity to take part in as we have a range of volunteer roles in school that you could take up, such as joining our school council, being a year 6 mentor and helping out at our events and productions!
It’s time to get physical! This section is about being active and taking part in some sort of active activity or sport on a weekly basis. You might already do this by being part of a sports team or group or already take part in a physical activity on a weekly (or more than weekly) basis. There’s no need to change what you do, simply carry on and it will count towards your DofE certificate! If you don’t already get active on a weekly basis, it’s a good idea to start, and our PE departments range of enrichment clubs would be a perfect fit!
This section is about learning a new skill or developing an old skill further. Like the other sections, you might already do this by being part of a group or club that focuses on skill building. The skill you learn could be anything, from cooking to refereeing, news report writing to dance instructing, computer gaming to makeup artist, the list goes on and on, and chances are, you’re already doing this too! And like with the other sections, our enrichment clubs could be a brilliant place for you to learn a new skill that will count towards your DofE.
It’s time for an adventure. The expedition section involves a 2 day 1 night stay at our outdoor adventure centre at Dallowgill. In the day you’ll be working in groups to follow a walking route you’ve planned through the vast countryside, tackling forests, lakes and anything that gets in your way. When you make it back to camp, there’ll be a host of group challenges from tent pitching to cooking and campfire lighting. There might even be a sneaky Mario Kart competition, marshmallow toasting, hot chocolates and an outdoor movie night! Because hard work deserves hard rewards right?