Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Overview
For more information go to www.theaward.org
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is recognised and widely adopted as being one of the best programmes for the personal development of young people. It is intended to provide for young people an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding programme of personal development, which is of the highest quality and the widest reach.
The Ten Key Principles of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Non-Competitive
The Award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others. Each participant's programme is tailor-made to reflect the individual starting point, abilities and interests.
Available to All
With a commitment to equal opportunities, the Award Programme is available to all young people who choose to take up its challenge.
Voluntary
Young people make a free choice to enter the programme and commit their own time to undertake the activities
Flexible
Young people design their own programme, which can be geared to their choice and personal circumstances and also to local provision. They may enter for whichever level of Award best suits them, and may take as long as they wish to complete an Award.
Balanced
By choosing activities in each of four different Sections (five at Gold), participants undertake a balanced and wide ranging programme.
Progressive
At each level, the Award Programme demands more time and an increasing degree of commitment and responsibility from the participant
Achievement Focused
Before starting an activity, young people are encouraged to set their own goals. If they aim for those goals and show improvement, they will achieve their Award.
Marathon, not a Sprint
The Award demands persistence and commitment and cannot be completed in a short burst of enthusiasm. Participants may want to continue with activities beyond the minimum time requirements set out for each level of the Award.
Personal Development
The Award is a programme of personal and social development. The value to young people is dependent on personal commitment, the learning process and the quality of the experience.
Enjoyable
Young people and helpers should find participation enjoyable and satisfying.
The Award is widely recognised by employers and people involved in education. Some of the benefits to young people include developing self-confidence and self-reliance; gaining a sense of achievement and a sense of responsibility; discovering new skills, interests and talents and developing leadership skills and abilities. They can also discover exciting opportunities; make new friends; experience teamwork, problem-solving and decision-making; increase their motivation; enhance their self-esteem and develop their communication skills. They will also, of course, have fun!
The Government has recognised that the Award has a valuable role to play within a young person's personal development. The Award is closely linked with many Government initiatives across the UK.
The Award gives opportunities for young people to:
- enjoy a wide variety of physical, creative and aesthetic experiences which encourage personal growth and development;
- experience new lifestyles and cultures outside their own immediate neighbourhood, possibly abroad;
- experience a variety of learning and teaching styles with people from different walks of life;
- take decisions of increasing complexity and accept responsibility for the consequences;
- discover new talents and abilities and test values and beliefs;
- give a continuing personal commitment of service to others;
- establish and sustain inter-personal relationships;
- negotiate their own personal programme of participation, seeking out and researching relevant information, and gradually take responsibility for their own learning;
- understanding their strengths and weakness, assess their personal level of competence, increase their own personal effectiveness and take responsibility for their own lives having a great time!
2006 marks the 50th anniversary of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in the UK, and is being celebrated by operating authorities across the UK.
The Award Scheme at School
The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme continues to go from strength to strength at Solihull School. In the past 12 months approximately 120 pupils signed up at different levels and most are well on the way to completing it. Forty students are working towards Bronze, the same number Silver and fifteen their Gold. There are also 12-15 pupils that will have completed various elements of their Venture in Tibet. The number of girls completing the award has also increased with large numbers ‘going for Gold’ this year in the Sixth Form. We aim to keep this momentum going as girls join the school in the younger years.
We ‘target’ year groups for particular levels of the award (as seen below) and we enrol most students ‘en mass’ at the end of the Summer term so that students can ‘get on’ with sorting out what they are going to do for each of the various sections. For students who join the L6 in September then the first few weeks of the new school year is the time to sign up:
- Bronze: Year 10
- Silver: Year 11 & the Lower Sixth (direct entry if not done Bronze).
- Gold: L6th and U6th (we do not allow direct entry at this level).
Many more staff have been involved in the award this year and because of this we have been able to really concentrate on the crucial matter of training and development of youngsters before (some of them, for the first time!) step out into the wilderness. Expedition training has included map and compass work, camp craft (stoves and tents), first aid training with a long time spent route planning prior to expedition.
This year we have held two activity weeks in North Wales with Ventures in Snowdonia. Practice and Assessment weekends have taken place in Shropshire and the Peak District and Gold and Silver Ventures (the old Expedition section) to the Lake District.
For the Service section of the scheme this year, pupils have done various worthwhile things such as helping run clubs for younger students such as swimming, working with cub and scout packs, helping out at old peoples homes and hospices, working at charity shops, assisting in the school chapel plus many others ! The Physical section of the award has had students participating in the vast range of sports that the school offers including trampolining, dance and water polo. The Skill section has included shooting, playing various instruments, choir, debating, horse care and cooking. For the gold section, students also have to complete a Residential section where they stay away from home for a week doing some kind of community service.
Full details of the countless opportunities available for the various sections and the time needed to spent on them at the various levels can be found on the award website at www.theaward.org. It is our policy to only take students on a practise expedition and then their venture if they have completed (or are well underway with) the other 4 or 5 sections.
Many students who take part in the Award at Solihull School are also members of the CCF (although many are not!!) and the two activities continue to run in parallel, sharing resources to good effect. On that note we are very fortunate at the school to have the use of the outdoor pursuit building for the Award and we are continuing to build up an impressive set of equipment. In the Spring of 2006 for example we invested heavily in tents as part of a rolling programme to ensure that our students are as well equipped as possible when they venture out onto the hills. We do ask that students invest in a good pair of walking boots and waterproofs that cope with the worst of the British weather. At Easter this year we had gales and hail storms and good basic personal equipment is a necessity.
Lat November the school also staged the Solihull bi-annual Mayoral presentation in the Bushell Hall. Pupils who completed their Award during the summer were presented with their Award certificate as well as the prestigious Mayor’s certificate in recognition of their hard work.
The award offers a huge personal challenge to individual students but the benefits that they receive in terms of personal and social development continues to be immeasurable. We encourage students to at least find out about the award. Ask myself or Mr Dean if you are unsure, but like all things you need to know that to complete it will require both hard work and commitment.