D of E Award

Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award (Year 12 and 13)

All students at SLGGS have the option to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Gold Award Scheme.

The award is challenging but exceptionally rewarding. If achieved, it is highly valued by employers and universities alike due to the nature of commitment it has entailed.

The award costs £30.00 for registration. The expedition and training package (total of 12 days) will cost in the region of £750-£800). The fee offers good value for money as it covers two days training, one training and practice expedition in the beautiful Brecon Beacons (5 days) and one qualifying expedition in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales (5 days). All training and supervision is delivered by an ‘approved activity provider’, Scott Smith of Adtrex. Hiring of tents, stoves and navigation equipment is included in the price. During the expeditions students carry all their kit, including tent, cooker, food and clothes. The school also has some expedition rucksacks that we can lend out to students.

Participants are required to complete sections in skills, volunteering, physical, as well as residential which involves a stay away from home.

If you complete the Award, you will make a trip to a Royal Palace to receive your Award from a member of the Royal family. You must complete it by the age of 25.

For further information, please contact Mrs Stavri by email: 

dofegold@langton.kent.sch.uk

Brief Information Pack – Gold Award 2022-23

Dates : (In school training)

July 2023 (Training expedition)

September 2023 (Qualifying expedition)

Quick Outline

• Once you are 16 you can start your Gold DofE programme. No activities can be counted for this before your 16th birthday.
• You’ll spend 12 months on your Volunteering section. For Physical and Skills you must spend 12 months on one and six months on the other - you decide which way round you do it.
• If you’ve jumped straight into your Gold DofE programme, without doing the Silver award, you’ll need to do a further six months in one of the 12 month sections bringing the length of the award up to  18 months.
• Your Practice Expedition will be for five days and four nights including an acclimatisation day and will take place in the Brecon Beacons. You repeat this, but in Snowdonia and with an assessor checking your progress on the qualifying expedition.
• The big difference at Gold is you'll also do a Residential section - staying away from home for five days and four nights doing a shared activity with people you don't know. It's great fun and a real chance to do something different! This is organised by you and could be a University visit, NCS residential or a summer school.

The Sections

• You achieve your Gold Award by completing a personal programme of activities in five sections - Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and for Gold, a Residential.
• You'll find yourself helping people or the community, getting fitter, developing new skills, going on an expedition and taking part in a residential activity.

The best bit is - you get to choose what you do!

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.

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.
• How long do I have to do it? Either 12 months or 18 months, depending on the section.
• Insurance and safety for an activity: you may need to ask the provider of that activity what training and insurance cover is required or is in place.
• 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.
• Changing your activity: even though we don't encourage this, if absolutely necessary, you may make one change of activity in each section at each level. You must restart the preparation, training, activity and assessment process and the time spent on both activities should add up to meet the overall time requirements for that section.
• Remember to tell your leader about 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.

We use Scott Smith as he has lots of experience of adventurous expeditions and years of running DofE expeditions. Teachers are present, except for the walks, during which students are remotely supervised by qualified mountain leaders and the Snowdonia Assessor Network.