The Duke of Edinburgh (D of E) scheme has only recently been reintroduced to UCS, but is already proving immensely popular and many students are taking part. It is designed to develop participants' self-belief and self-confidence in addition to teamwork and problem solving skills. Currently, the Silver Award is available, under the direct access route, to the Remove year and the current Transitus, who successfully achieved the Bronze award in their Remove, are also doing Silver. At silver level, each participant must undertake four activities; a skill, a physical recreation, a service and an expedition. The direct access route necessitates the participant doing an activity for an extended period.
For many pupils, the award offers an opportunity to achieve extra recognition for the activities they are already pursuing. The scheme encourages students to become committed to a range of activities in a 'Renaissance Man' ethos. It is important to remember that the majority of students will already be doing extra-curricular activities which they can use towards D of E. The most common examples of this are in the skill and physical sections where students use, for example, learning a musical instrument or a foreign language, religious studies, school rugby matches or any sport training sessions taken outside of lesson time.
The service must be a voluntary task within the community; many participants choose to help out in charity shops, local primary schools, retirement homes or assisting within UCS activities. The silver expedition takes place over three days with two nights camping. For many students, the experience of trekking together, navigating, cooking outside and camping is new. D of E regulations stipulate that students need to be prepared for this by undergoing training and a full practice expedition.
For further information, please look at the individual award pamphlets downloadable via the links on the right, or see www.dofe.org. This site should be able to answer any questions you may have. Should you have any further questions, please use the appropriate link below.
Transitus Silver - Mr T Allen via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Remove Silver - Mr S Walton via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it