Enrolment
How do I sign up for the bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award?
Attend an enrolment evening held once a year at Stockport Grammar School. The dates are published on this website and on notice boards around school. Pupils will have a Third Year assembly before Easter about the award and dates are reiterated then.
What happens if I can’t attend the enrolment evening?
You will not be able to sign up for bronze this year, but you can sign up in Fourth Year by attending the enrolment evening next year. You can join the award out of school if you wish. You will be able to find the nearest centres and contact details to where you live on the national website.
What does it cost?
Please see the signing up page.
Do I get this back if I change my mind?
Once you have paid the £100 it is non returnable, so very careful thought must be given to signing up initially. You will remain on our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award books even if you drop out, so if you change your mind again later on you can pick up the award again. If you move school or area you will not have to pay to enrol again unless a centre makes extra charges for administration.
What does this include?
Entry into the award, the skills of experienced and qualified staff on expeditions, all training and supervision on expeditions, access to high quality equipment, cost of campsite fees for bronze practice and qualifying expeditions, volunteering training and expenses, administrative costs and literature.
What extra do I have to pay?
If you wish to hire equipment from school there is a returnable deposit and a small hire charge levied and any activities you choose to do for each of the sections. Pupils are also responsible for any food required for the expeditions.
At silver and gold the cost of campsites are not included in the enrolment price and extra costs at gold for training and expeditions are incurred.
Also at gold, pupils are given more choice on venue for expedition, so if one abroad is chosen this will obviously cost a lot more. We do run a UK based one each year to keep down costs.
What is the website I need to use?
Both this website at the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award website at http://www.dofe.org.
When can I start my bronze?
When you are approaching 14, but we do not enrol pupils until the end of the Third Year, in March.
What about silver or gold?
We always start pupils on bronze, but as soon as you have completed a section at bronze level an application form needs to be completed and then pupils can go directly on to silver and the same applies to gold. Please note that you cannot start your gold until you are 16.
I didn’t do the award in the Third Year but am now in Fourth / Fifth / Sixth Year and want to sign up. What do I do?
You can be a direct silver / gold entrant but you must attend the bronze enrolment evening. Going into bronze or silver direct means that you have to do extra months in one of the sections.
What do you have to do once you have enrolled?
Attend the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award club at least once a month to ensure you are on track and that you are not experiencing any problems.
Where and when do we meet?
There is a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award drop in club for pupils in the library computer room. Pupils are expected to attend on a monthly basis.
Pupils must sign a register on attending so that we can ensure an accurate record of progress checks is kept.
The club runs:
Tuesday, 1pm – 1.30pm
Thursday, 1pm – 1.30pm
If the club is cancelled notices are put up on the notice board in the quad. It is therefore vital that pupils check this daily for up to date information.
Are there any deadlines I need to meet?
Yes, there are many for expeditions. However, a very important one is that you must have completed all 3 sections and have them signed up in your record book by 1st March in the year after you sign up. If you don’t meet the deadline you will be deferred for the expedition until the 3 sections are signed up. You will then be given a date to do the expedition later on in the year at a date convenient to staff.
Requirements
What do I need to do to get my bronze award?
You must complete all 4 sections: expedition, physical, volunteering and skill. For the latter 3 sections you have to complete one activity for each section and keep a record of your progress.
How many hours do I need to do?
An average of 1 hour a week over the minimum period of time for each activity.
Is there a maximum length of time you can spend on each activity?
No, there isn’t. The more you put into a section the more you will personally get out of it. Pupils have frequently done more than 5 months for the 3 months section and done over 50 hours of involvement
What is the residential?
An extra requirement at gold level is 5 days and 4 nights away from home.
How do you know when you have done enough?
You need to do at least an average of 1 hour per week on each activity and each section must be completed for the minimum calendar months required. For example, 3 months would be a minimum of 1 hour a week from 1st January to 1st April (approximately 12 – 13 sessions).
What happens if I think I have finished a section?
You attend the club monthly so staff will be on hand to tell you what to do. However, you will be checked to ensure all is correct and meets criteria.
The information on your log sheet will be transferred to your official blue record book which then needs to be signed up by your instructor / supervisor in that activity.
Who can instruct / supervise my progress?
For each section activity you need to find someone who is either qualified to teach that activity, is very knowledgeable or is in charge of the place you are helping out at. They must be informed that you are carrying out the activity for DofE and they or school staff will set you targets for that activity which you should try to achieve by the end of the 3 / 6 months.
Who can sign my record of attendance?
Instructors / supervisors of that activity must sign your activity sheet each time you attend a session. If, however, you are learning a musical instrument, for example, you would get the instructor to sign the fact you have had a lesson, and then when you do practice for the instrument you can sign that you have done this.
You must get it signed every session as we have had the unfortunate problem that pupils have left signing up of the activity sheets till the end of the course and then the instructor has moved away / passed away / become ill etc, and so it can cause obvious problems verifying that the pupil has actually undertaken that activity.
Can my mum teach me?
No, it cannot be a relative. They obviously have vested interest in you completing your award and so it must be someone else.
Communication
How do we keep in touch?
Pupils are expected to access their school email account daily and parents give us their email addresses when they enrol and it is their responsibility to inform us if this changes as email is an important form of communication that we use.
Parents are sent information via email as required.
All information for meetings etc is posted on the DofE notice board in the quad, information for the day is put up before 8am so pupils must get into a habit of checking this daily.
When relevant, information is also put onto the SGS website on the message area and notices are sometimes given to form teachers to read out, so pupils must ensure if they are late for registration they find out if there was anything relevant for them and act on the information given.
Expeditions
How far do I have to go?
It’s not distance but time out walking that is important.
Bronze – 2 days for 6 hours a day
Silver – 3 days for 7 hours each day
Gold – 4 days for 8 hours each day
How much training is there?
A full training programme is a requirement to attend before pupils are allowed on expedition as part of our health and safety requirements and risk assessments. The programme is included in the diary and all sessions must be attended. There are usually 2 session to choose from for each training module (when held at lunchtimes or after school) and if pupils miss one they must attend the other. There are some training days when there is only one date available and pupils must attend this. No extra training is run as the timetable is very tight and there is not enough staff time to re run courses for odd pupils. It is a big commitment and pupils must be aware if this when they sign up.
What equipment do you have?
- 2 / 3 / 4 man tents
- Gas burners
- Trangias / cookers
- Rucksacks
- Maps
- Map cases
- Compasses
- Whistles
- Bivvy / survival bags
What about other kit that is required?
A suggested kit list is on our website. It is suggested that pupils try and borrow items as to purchase all items needed could be very expensive. Steve Pownall can advise if you are considering purchasing waterproofs or other walking / camping gear.
What about boots and waterproofs?
Mrs Muscutt hires these out and pupils must make arrangements in advance to hire these from her. Again, charges apply.
What are the charges for the equipment?
On average we charge from £2 to £5 per piece of equipment per expedition with £20 returnable deposit for each item hired.
How do I order it?
Order forms are available on the website. You are given dates when the whole team must submit any team and individual requests by. You must submit the form with a deposit of £20 for each piece of equipment, which will be returned in full if equipment is returned clean, undamaged, on time and complete. There is a small hire charge for each piece of equipment hired.
Pupils will be billed for any damage or missing equipment.
Pupils may be blacklisted from borrowing equipment if they fail to return equipment or damage equipment.
When is it issued and returned?
Dates are put into school diary, in the yellow calendar pupils are issued with, on this website and on our Duke of Edinburhg’s Award notice boards. The information is also emailed home.
Return date and time is given when pupils pick up equipment. Equipment is to be returned within a few days of the end of their expedition as we sometimes need a very quick turnaround of equipment due to number of pupils going out on expeditions.
Replacement cost of tents can cost from £50 to £200 depending on the tent issued.
Who is in charge of equipment?
Paul Croft, who can be emailed at croftp@stockportgrammar.co.uk. Pupils must collect and return equipment when requested as Paul has to make special arrangements to be available at these times.
Does school provide transport for expeditions?
No, it is not at all practical due to the nature of the expeditions, staggered starts and finish times etc. We encourage car sharing and try to ensure most start points are accessible by public transport. Parents are responsible for getting their son / daughter to the start of expeditions and occasionally these may be midweek. The bursary are able to act as a broker for taxi booking if pupils want to share one.
What dates are expeditions on?
All dates are on the website and when you sign up it is essential you ensure these dates are kept free as we do not have any other dates available in the school calendar.
