Duke of Edinburgh Awards
This fantastic award gives our students amazing opportunities. The volunteering section pushes participants to give back to their community by volunteering for a not-for-profit organisation. This provides valuable work experience and simultaneously benefits society. The Skill and Physical sections, encourage participants to take up a new sport and interest, coaxing them to develop a work ethic, dedication, fitness and hopefully giving them a new hobby or pursuit. The Expedition section allows them to experience outdoor adventure firsthand, taking part in exciting hiking and camping expeditions to areas of natural beauty. Students learn important outdoor skills such as navigation and camp-craft.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a hugely beneficial challenge that is as rewarding as it is enjoyable.
What level of DofE do we offer at DCHS?
The DofE operates in three progressive levels
Bronze (for those aged 14 and over) we offer this to students in Year 9.
Silver (for those aged 15 and over) we hope to be able to offer this to students in the near future.
Gold (for those aged 16 and over) we hope to be able to offer this to students in the near future.
DCHS DofE Team
DofE Manager- Mr. S Ashworth
DofE Leaders- Mrs T Bowie, Mr A Brown, Mr C Burns, Ms A Ashworth, Miss T Hall, Ms J Smith,Mr. S Wilkinson
Award Verifier - Mr. J Wilson
New Hobbies
New Skills
Bronze Award
At what age can I complete my Bronze Award?
The Bronze Award is offered to students in Year 9. The award is launched in the autumn term with an assembly for Year 9 and an evening for parents. We encourage students to start their activities as soon as they have enrolled onto the Award so that it provides them with enough time to complete by the end of the academic year.
How many sections are in the Bronze Award?
The DofE Bronze Award consists of 4 sections; Physical, Skill, Volunteering, and Expedition, with students taking responsibility for identifying opportunities to complete these.
The DofE staff team will support participants by highlighting opportunities in the local area and within school.
Students will choose how to structure their Award. One of the Physical, Skill and Volunteering sections must last for six months and the other two for three months each. The Physical, Skills and Volunteering sections must be undertaken for one hour per week minimum and completed before the Expedition section
Support will be available within school from our team
Silver Award
At what age can I complete my Silver Award?
Students need to be at least 15 to start doing the Silver DofE programme.
How many sections are in the Silver Award?
The Silver DofE programme has 4 sections, Volunteering, Physical, Skills, and Expedition. You need to do at least 6 months of Volunteering and a minimum of 6 months on either Physical or Skills and 3 months on the other. Students can choose which one they wish to do for longer.
Students who have already completed their Bronze award can choose the same activity for Silver, but need to show development in it. It’s best to try something new!
The Expedition section involves planning, training for, and doing a 3 day (2 night) expedition.
Students starting their Silver without doing Bronze will have to do an extra 6 months volunteering or doing whichever of the Physical or Skills sections they have spent more time on. Though students can change their minds later, they should decide which section they want to do for longer at the beginning.
It will take at least 6 months for Silver if Bronze has already been achieved, or 12 months if students have moved straight to Silver.
Gold Award
At what age can I complete my Gold Award?
The minimum age to start the DofE Gold Award is 16 (Y11 in UK schools).
How many sections are in the Gold Award?
The Gold Award takes at least 12 months, or 18 months if you haven't done the Silver Award. The longer timing still applies if you skipped the Silver after doing the Bronze. The extra 6 months needs to be done in the volunteering section or the longer of the other two sections.
The balance of time spent on the different sections is similar to the Silver Award but is double. In other words, you need to do the volunteering for 12 months plus one of the physical or skills sections for 6 months.
The expedition is yet more demanding as it needs to be 4 days and 3 nights in length.
There is a major extra section to the Gold DofE Award - a residential section. This is a shared activity in a residential setting that should last for 5 days, including 4 nights away from home. Unlike the expedition, this cannot be carried out with friends or others from your school or youth organisation.