Duke Of Edinburgh

Each Award requires the successful completion of four section activities (five at Gold), requiring you to give a regular commitment averaging a minimum of at least an hour a week during non-curriculum time for the required timescale. See the downloadable documents below for a poster about how long each section should take at each level of the award. The sections that make up a DofE award are:

-> Volunteering

-> Physical

-> Skills

-> Expedition

-> Residential (Gold Award only)

You take responsibility for sourcing and arranging your Volunteering, Physical, Skill, (Residential at Gold) section activities/opportunities with a suitable provider, who will take responsibility for activity supervision and act as an Assessor. They must be willing to provide a brief report confirming that you have taken part in the activity, averaging at least one hour a week for the entire timescale - and have made up for any missed time by extending the timescale. Participants should also make use of the ‘activity log’ which is available below to keep a track of their activity for each section of the award. If you are struggling to think of activities for each section, below you will find a document called ‘programme ideas’.

Below you can find lots of information on each level of the Award, what is involved and how it all works at Southfield School.

Bronze Award

We launch the Bronze Award to Year 9 students in September each year, who then complete their award over the course of the school year, taking part in training sessions and numerous workshops and activities. The expedition section is the main focus of school, training sessions will take place on a Wednesday afternoon and a full calendar of events is published once you are signed up. In these sessions participants will cover the ‘DofE Expedition Training Framework’ in order for you to be adequately prepared to go on their practice and qualifying expedition in terms 5 and 6 respectively.

Silver Award

Once the Bronze level is completed students are welcome to move on to Silver in Y10. Training takes place in a similar way to Bronze but will be less frequent, with the expeditions taking place during the week in July.

Gold Award

Gold is available to Y12/13 only and the expeditions move away from the traditional method of walking. Instead they take place along the River Severn and the River Wye in open Canadian canoes. 

The expeditions take place in July and August*. At Gold level your certificate and badge is presented at a ‘Gold Award Presentation’ event at a number of royal venues around the UK featuring many more gold award achievers from lots of different centres. These tend to take place up to 18 months after you have finished your award.

At gold there is also a residential section to complete. Before anything is booked or paid for the residential activity must be approved by the DofE Manager. You can use the forms below (residential ideas / residential approval form) for more information.

Once you have started your award journey, you will be allocated an individual account on the award schemes’ online portal, eDofE. This can be accessed via smart phone, tablet, laptop or PC. This is used to record your pgress in each of the activities you are completing and upload evidence for your assessor to see.

You should evidence attendance with activity logs and completion with an assessor’s report, which you upload onto your eDofE account and submit for approval by the DofE Manager. There is a document available to download which outlines information for assessors. Further information is available in the welcome pack you will receive once you are signed up and online at www.edofe.org/assessor. 

Once your final section has been approved the account is automatically forwarded for verification. Certificates and badges for completed awards are handed out annually at our DofE prize giving event in December (for the previous academic year).

Any queries during this process, either from the DofE Manager or DofE Verifier, will see participants alerted through a message to their eDofE account. These should be addressed as soon as possible so there is no delay in finishing your award.

Y9 – Once you have attended the DofE information evening at the start of the academic year you are welcome to apply using the links on the letter that was handed out. One is to the online enrolment form and the other is an online medical & parental consent form. Both of these documents need to be completed in order for you to be enrolled onto your DofE Award. At this point you will also need to pay the first instalment (or the full amount) to the school office. Details are available on the finance letter which was given out on the information evening. Once you have completed enrolment and your place is confirmed you should use the ‘bitesized planner’ to plan out what you are going to do for each section of the award. You will need to keep this safe as it will help you out when you come to completing eDofE.

Y10 – Once you have completed your Bronze award at the end of Y9 or start of Y10, you should express an interest in moving on to the Silver level. This can be done by completing the enrolment form and medical & parental consent form. Applications are only open to those who have finished their Bronze award and this has been confirmed via email. Any applications from students who have not finished will be rejected. We have limited space on the Silver award (due to transport arrangements) so applications are limited to those who have finished their Bronze Award and will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Applications tend to close around the first week in November. Payment of at least the first instalment is required when the online forms have been submitted. Once you have completed enrolment and your place is confirmed you should use the ‘bitesized planner’ (available below) to plan out what you are going to do for each section of the award. You will need to keep this safe as it will help you out when you come to completing eDofE.

Y12 – For gold you need to have completed either bronze or silver (ideally both). Apply in the same way by completing the forms below. Pay the first deposit and once your enrolment is confirmed you can start your other sections. Staff will be in touch to confirm attendance at timetabled sessions throughout the year. Once you have completed enrolment and your place is confirmed you should use the ‘bitesized planner’ (available below) to plan out what you are going to do for each section of the award. You will need to keep this safe as it will help you out when you come to completing eDofE.

Bronze Award Planner

Silver Award Planner

Gold Award Planner

Information for assessors

Lots of people ask how much it costs to take part in the DofE at Southfield. Below is a summary of the costs involved and how we use the money at each level.

Bronze Award | £60.00

• Enrolment onto the award scheme (£28 goes straight to the DofE Charity)
• All resources for the training events
• The cost of the practice walk and qualifying expeditions (not including personal equipment)
• A fee for replacing expedition consumables (e.g gas)

Silver Award | £120.00

• Enrolment onto the award scheme (£28 goes straight to the DofE Charity)
• All resources for the training events
• The cost of the practice and qualifying expeditions (not including personal equipment)
• A fee for replacing expedition consumables (e.g gas)

Gold Award | £250.00

• Enrolment onto the award scheme (£35 goes straight to the DofE Charity)
• All resources for the training events
• The cost of the training, practice and qualifying expeditions (not including personal equipment)
• A fee for replacing expedition consumables (e.g gas)

We understand that this is a considerable amount to pay. We will set up an instalment plan for each new applicant and reminders will be sent from the School’s visit co-ordinator. Cheques should be made out to Southfield School and not to the DofE Award directly.

Each year we host an ‘expedition kit information evening’ in November. This is open to participants from all levels of the award as well as parents. We welcome special guests in from the DofE Award’s recommended retailer ‘Go Outdoors’ for this event. This is a great opportunity to see what equipment you need for your expeditions and see what is available out there.

Have a look through some of the documents that can be downloaded below, email or come and speak to Mrs Coleman (the school’s DofE manager) or check out the DofE noticeboard outside C12. Alternatively you can check out a wealth of information on the DofE official website www.dofe.org

Check out our Twitter page for further updates @SouthfieldDofE