Participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award gives young people the chance to develop skills for work and life and to fulfil their potential. At Icknield Community College we know that completing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award can be a life changing adventure for your child.
The Award offers 3 levels:
At Icknield, we currently provide the opportunity to complete the Bronze Award in year 10 and the Silver award in year 11.
The Bronze Award is launched in the autumn term with a taster walk after school followed by sign up and registration. Most participants start their volunteering, skills and physical sections around this time and finish their Award with the expeditions that usually occur in terms 5 and 6. Participants should complete the Bronze form and return it to the finance office to enrol for the Bronze Award.
The Silver Award is launched in the autumn term with sign up also before Christmas. The expeditions usually occur after the year 11 GCSE exams with the training day during the Easter break. This allows students to complete their Silver Award before they leave Icknield as well as giving them important time management skills. Participants should complete the Silver form and return it to the finance office to enrol in the Silver Award.
You achieve your Award by completing a personal programme of activities in four sections: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and the Expeditions.
For each section participants must complete their activity for at least 1 hour every week for the duration of their programme.
For the Bronze Award, two of the sections are completed for 3 months and the other for 6 months. The expedition involves a 2 day walk with one night of camping. Participants complete a practice day and the full 2-day qualifying expedition.
For the Silver Award one of the sections is completed for 3 months and the other two for 6 months, if you have completed the Bronze level. If you have not completed the Bronze level, you can still sign up directly for the Silver Award, although one of your sections will be slightly longer. The expedition involves a 3 day walk with two nights of camping. Participants complete a full training day, practice and qualifying expeditions supported by the School of Outdoors.
In preparation for the expedition there is after school training and route planning during term 4 for Bronze participants and a training day before the expedition for Silver participants.
Your programme can be full of activities and projects that get you buzzing; along the way, you will gain experiences, friends and talents that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Importantly, you choose your own activities to make up your own programme.
Full details and ideas can be found on the official Duke of Edinburgh website at www.dofe.org
For more information, please contact katherine.scane@icknield.oxon.sch.uk
