Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
A DofE programme is a real adventure from beginning to end. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from. You just need to be aged between 14 and 24 and realise there’s more to life than sitting on a sofa watching life pass you by.
At RGS you can complete your Bronze Award by completing a personal programme of activities in four sections - Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition.
You'll find yourself helping people or the community, getting fitter, developing skills and going on an expedition.
The best bit is - you get to choose what you do!
This also means that you have to be motivated and proactive if you wish to participate in, and complete, the Award – it is your choice. You will need to find activities that you can take part in and people to assess you – with support from your Leaders of course.
Your programme can be full of activities and projects that get you buzzing and along the way you’ll pick up experiences, friends and talents that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
The current delivery model for the Bronze Award at RGS involves students being enrolled at the end of Year 8/start of Year 9. Your son/daughter will receive communications with information about how to apply. There are also links below to recent letters that have been sent to parents.
We hope that this page will provide you with all of the information that you need about the Duke of Edinburgh Award at Redland Green School.
If you need any further information, please email enrichment@redlandgreen.bristol.sch.uk.
You can also visit the DofE website www.dofe.info.
Information about the Skills, Volunteering and Physical Sections
Section Requirements
A Bronze DofE programme has 4 sections; Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. You must do a minimum of 3 months activity for each of the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections. 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.
Choosing Activities for Sections
The next exciting step of your adventure is deciding what you are going to do as part of your DofE programme. There are so many different activities to choose from. Below are some ideas for each of the sections. You will need to identify the activity you want to do, who's assessing you and what goals you're setting for yourself.
Don’t know what to do for one or more sections – there are helpful ideas on the DofE website here.
More information and ideas for Physical can be found here
More information and ideas for Skills can be found here
More information and ideas for Volunteering can be found here
To help you get started here's a quick overview of what you'll need to think about:
- You decide: It is up to you to find an activity that you wish to do in your own personal time; maybe something you’re already doing or something you are interested in. Most of all pick something you'll enjoy - it'll make it easier to stick at it!
- How much is the activity?It depends on what you are planning to do, some will be expensive, some will be cheap and some will be completely free - it is your choice on how much you want to spend on each activity.
- Where can I do an activity? Find out whether this activity can be done in your local area. If it can't, then it might involve you looking further away or searching for another activity. Part of the challenge of doing your DofE is finding a local opportunity.
- Check the activity: Remember to check if what you are planning to do is permitted for the section. The DofE is very firm on what activities fall into which sections and they cannot be used for more than one section.
- Remember to tell your Leaderabout your plans before you start so you don't waste time on activities which won't count or don't fit into the right section! Communicate with your Leader by uploading the information about your activity onto eDofE.
Once everything is agreed and in place you’re ready to start your adventure. Have fun!
Completing a section
The eDofE website is used to track the progress of your Award and ensure your leader is kept up to date about what you are doing. You must ensure that you regularly log on to eDofE to ensure the information about your sections is up to date, as well as to upload evidence.
Once you have done an activity for a minimum of either 3 or 6 months, you must ensure that an assessor report is submitted on eDofE for that section to be ‘completed’. This can be done in one of two ways:
- 1) The preferred method is for the assessor to go to the D of E assessor portal at www.edofe.org/assessor to write a short report. The assessor will need to know a student’s ID number, which the student can look up on their eDofE account.
- 2) The student can give their assessor the relevant form from their Welcome Pack to complete. If they have lost the Welcome Pack, the assessor can write a letter. This then needs to be scanned or photographed and uploaded onto eDofE.
In both cases, it is essential that the assessor states clearly the start and finish date for the section.
You can find a link to an eDofE user guide here.
Information about the Expedition Section
There is a limit to the number of students that we are able to deliver the Expedition section to at RGS. Please refer to the letters below or contact the school using the information at the top of this page if you are unsure about the current opportunities.
To complete the Expedition section you have to plan, train for and do a 2 day (1 night) Expedition. Below are some links to information concerning planning for the expedition that you may find useful.
Frequently Asked Questions
**Please note there is further information and documents on Google Classroom that you are able to access if you enrolled on the Award**
- Why does it cost the amount that it does to do D of E at Redland Green?
For information about the costs for DofE at RGS CLICK HERE.
- I have forgotten my login information for eDofE.
The username is your name, often followed by a number e.g. JoeBloggs or JoeBloggs2. Your password was initially set as your date of birth as an 8-digit number e.g. 01012002 if your birthday was 1st January 2002. When you first logged in to eDofE you should have reset your password and linked your account to an email address. If you can no longer remember your new password, you need to click on the ‘forgotten password’ function in eDofE.
- I have completed the activities for the required periods. How do I now get my Award?
You need to get an assessor to write a report and submit it on eDofE (see guidance above). In due course, this will then be approved and you will receive a certificate. If there is a problem with a section then you will receive an email so you must ensure you check your eDofE accounts and emails regularly.
- Who can be the assessor my activity?
The assessor should not be a member of your family or a friend. They should ideally be some sort of ‘expert’ in the activity and hold some sort of position related to the activity. For example they could be a teacher at school, a member of staff at the sports centre, an instructor, a club leader, a member of staff at a voluntary organisation. Please speak to your Leader if you need further guidance.
- I have started an activity but am now unable to continue this activity for the full 3 or 6 months.
You are able to change activity if necessary. You will need to get two assessor reports written that cover the full 3 or 6 months. E.g. you may have volunteered at a charity shop for two months which then shut down – you will have to find an alternative volunteering placement for the remainder of the 3 or 6 months.