Participants/Parent & Carers

I am excited to inform you that Alleyne’s Academy will again be offering the Duke of Edinburgh Award for students at Bronze (Year 9), Silver (Year 10) and Gold (Sixth Form) levels. Students will be registered for the award and their expeditions through the academy, and we will organise the expedition element of the award for the students. The dates for the expeditions are below, and unfortunately these cannot be changed – if you cannot commit to all of these weekends, then unfortunately your child will not be able to complete the award with us.  The locations for the expeditions will be sent out closer to the time, for you to be able to organise drop-off/collection of the students.

As part of the scheme, students will need to take part in 4 or 5 different activities, some of which they need to complete independently.

Students need to participate in voluntary work (this must be for a charitable organisation, not a private business), a physical activity and a skill for roughly an hour a week for the timelines as shown below. Gold participants will also need to complete a residential activity.

  

More information can be found on the many ways in which these sections can be completed online at https://www.dofe.org/dofewithadifference/ . DofE with a difference allows more activities based from home, with social distancing in mind, in light of the recent pandemic. Some examples of how students have volunteered would be helping younger siblings with home-schooling, supporting vulnerable people in their community and spending the time to help those in need in a less formal manner than was previously allowed.

Students need to log in to their eDofE account (we will provide the login with registration), submit their activities for approval (some activities might not be suitable/appropriate for the section) and then log their activities each week, so for example if they were to work on their fitness each week as their physical, they may upload a screenshot of runkeeper etc. Some of our current DofE participants have done amazingly well last year, contributing 676 hours of voluntary service to the community, which is an amazing achievement. Students will then need to have their assessor complete an assessors’ report, and upload this for approval to finish their section.

 

Prior to the expedition, we require students to have started each section (with the exception of the residential for Gold), and have finished their 3 month section (in Bronze and Silver). Without meeting these requirements, students may not be allowed to participate in the expedition.

Dates for the expeditions are as follows:

Bronze – 2 day expedition, Sat and Sun:

Sat 22nd – Sun 23rd April – Training Weekend

Sat 6th – Sun 7th May – Practise Weekend

Sat 1^st – Sun 2^nd July – Qualifying Weekend

Silver – 3 day expedition, Fri to Sun:

Fri 5th – Sun 7th May – Training & Practise Weekend (Friday meet @ 9am)

Sat 1^st to Mon 3^rd July – Qualifying Weekend (Monday collect @ 4pm-ish)

Gold – 5 day expedition:

Training Weekend (2 days, 2 nights – tbc depending on numbers)

Practise Week  (4 days, 3 nights – tbc depending on numbers)

Qualifying Week (4 days, 4 nights – tbc depending on numbers)

 

The cost for registration and for the expeditions are as follows:

Bronze: £205

Silver: £260

Gold: £415

Part of the first payment will cover the student’s registration with DofE. Payments, other than the registration, are refundable only until such time as the Academy has to make payment to the supplier(s) providing external services. Once such payment has been completed no refunds can be made. Payments should be made through ParentPay, and the students will be registered with this once we have received their consent letter.

The payment schedules are as follows:

 

 

 

 

Kit List for Expedition

Entrust (our expedition provider) will provide:

• Tent allocated to a group
• Cooking Stove and fuel
• Map, case and compass
• Group tracker and emergency procedure card

You will need to provide

• Rucksack (approx. 65ltrs)
• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping mat
• Walking boots (preferably broken-in) – These need to be full boots, not walking shoes please.
• Waterproofs – Students will need these even if it’s forecast a sunny and hot weekend, as they’re part of their emergency kit. Students will need a waterproof jacket & trousers.
• Appropriate clothing (no jeans) – Thin layers work best, with long sleeves and legs to protect from sunburn/nettles/insects etc.
• Your food for the entirety of the Expedition (all days) – Students will need to cook at least 1 hot meal – packets like pasta ‘n’ sauce work well.
• Cleaning supplies e.g. sponge, tea towel
• 2ltr water bottle
• Personal First Aid Kit
• Any personal Medication
• Personal bottle of hand sanitizer and face mask

For a more information please see DofE website

https://www.dofe.org/shopping/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DofE-Expedition-Kit-List-January-2021.pdf

https://www.dofe.org/shopping/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Expedition-Kit-Guide-October-2020.pdf

Please do not feel you have to buy everything on the DofE recommended Kit List - the Instructors will discuss equipment and food on the Training Weekend in more detail advising where and what to purchase.

We have also found a company this year that can hire some equipment to us at a reasonable cost – more details of this to follow.

Please direct all DofE enquiries, including questions about DofE, Assessor’s Reports and expeditions to DofE@alleynes.staffs.sch.uk