Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (DofE) is non-competitive and open to all young people – it's about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries. There are three levels of DofE programme which, when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.

Through their DofE, students will make friends and memories and build traits like confidence, resilience and self-esteem, which can benefit mental health. They’ll gain skills and attributes for work and life, like problem-solving, team-working and self-motivation – and they’ll achieve an Award that’s recognised by top employers and can help them stand out when applying for university or for jobs.

To achieve their Award, participants must complete four sections:

Skills, Volunteering, Physical and their Expedition.

Every young person’s DofE programme is personal to them – they can choose what they’d like to do for their Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections, and most activities can count. We will provide guidance and support, and students can either choose to continue an activity they already do or discover something completely new.

Duke of Edinburgh at Garth Hill College

Students at Garth Hill have the opportunity to enrol on the Bronze Award in Year 9 and the Silver Award in Year 10. Both awards require students to complete activities in the following sections:

Volunteering - helping someone, the community or the environment
Physical - becoming fitter through sport, dance or fitness activities
Skills - developing existing talents or trying something new
Expedition - planning, training for and completing an adventurous journey

It will usually take you at least 6 months to complete your Bronze programme.

Volunteering section: 3 months
Physical section: 3 months
Skills section: 3 months
Expedition section: 2 days/1 night

You also have to spend an extra three months on one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections. It’s your choice which one and, though you can change your mind later, you should decide which section you want to do for longer at the beginning. Knowing how long you’re going to do it for will help you to choose your activity and set your goals for each section.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH - BRONZE AWARD

Students, find out more about the Bronze scheme here:

Parents, find out more about the Bronze scheme here:

It will take you at least 6 months for Silver if you’ve already achieved your Bronze, or 12 months if you’ve jumped straight into Silver.

Volunteering section: 6 months
Physical and Skills sections: One section for 6 months and the other section for 3 months
Expedition section: 3 days/2 nights

If you didn’t do Bronze, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.

Duke OF EDINBURGH - SILVER AWARD

Students, find out more about the Silver scheme here:

Parents, find out more about the Silver scheme here:

Are you interested?

If the Duke of Edinburgh award is something that interests you, be sure to pop the School’s DofE manager, Mrs Hawkins, an email to find out how you can get involved: c-hawkins@garthhillcollege.com

FEES

The fees are detailed below, and includes registration fees, all expedition costs, a DofE polo shirt and insurance. If you are entitled to Pupil Premium funding, the college will fund the £35 for your child, please just mark the PP box on the sign up form.

Year	Award	Fee
Year 9	Bronze	£100
Year 11	Silver	£200
Year 12	Gold	£300