Gold
2017 saw our first Gold group set up and 24 students successfully completed their expedition. The School have continued to offer the Gold Award and currently 38 students have achieved their Gold award. Many have been to collect their award at either Buckingham Palace or St James’ Palace and some are still waiting to be invited. Students do have until their 25th birthday to complete their award.
Any student aged 16 and over can apply to start their Gold award, regardless of whether they have completed Bronze, Silver or neither award previously. The expedition however cannot be completed until they are in year 12. (unless they book it with an AAP independent of school)
Gold timescales:
Volunteering section: 12 months
Physical and Skills sections: one section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months
Expedition section: Training Day, 4 days/3 nights (Practice) and 5 days/4nights (Qualifying). One of these days is an acclimatisation day not on expedition
Residential section: undertaking a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.
If you didn’t do the Silver Award, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.
Assessors
The students will need to find an assessor for each of their three sections, this person must be over 18 and have an interest or expertise in the section and NOT be a family member. The students will meet with their assessor BEFORE they start their section to discuss their aims for the 3 or 6 months. The assessor will then monitor progress and write a report at the end of the time. The report will need to be submitted to www.eDofE.org/assessor, or handed written on the participants record book and then photographed and uploaded to the participants eDofE account. Full details and training will be given in lunchtime session throughout the academic year.
How much does it cost?
The cost of registering for the award is £45. This covers your welcome pack, Licenced Organisation administration charge and school administration charge. To apply for a place during y11 (over 16 only) please email Mrs Kirby. Students in y12 will be invited on induction day and via Google Classroom.
The expedition costs, if completed with school will be approximately, £800 for walking expedition in the UK (numbers and location dependent). There is the opportunity to do a kayaking expedition in the UK or an International walking expedition, subject to numbers, but will cost a little more due to the training required and flights. (roughly £900 Kayaking plus additional training and around £2000 for International plus additional training)
We are proud to be working with Karos Adventure who are providing a UK open Kayak expedition this year. We are hoping to be working with Jeremy Hepworth, of Hepworth Adventures for an exciting international trip to Norway next year.
The other sections' costs will depend on what you choose to do.
School Gold Expedition is for 6th form only.
Training day: February and April
Practice expedition: start of Easter holidays
Qualifying expedition: July
Dates for the next academic year can be found here.
We are pleased to be working with Karos adventure this year, who will be supporting the students throughout their experience in the UK or via Kayaking.
https://www.karosadventure.com/
If a student is unable to attend the school expedition dates, there are many other opportunities which can be found on the DofE web site. Here you’ll find a list of Approved Activity Providers (AAP’s) who do open expeditions, including horseback, canoeing and cycling. Any student can apply to do these expeditions in their own time and still complete their award with school. The list also include residential opportunities, but please note that the students should not be booking these with their friends; the aim of this section is to meet new people.
Additional paperwork for the residential section needs to be completed before they do their residential.
Find AAP’s here
For more information about the award visit:
To contact the DofE manager Mrs Kirby please email: dofe@scd.herts.sch.uk
DOWNLOADS
Additional paperwork to be completed for residential activity: Please complete and return to Mrs Kirby who will then approval at least 3 weeks prior to the Residential happening, the earlier the better!
Residential Activity request form
How to submit an assessor’s report