The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is the world’s leading youth achievement award and we are delighted to give our pupils the opportunity to participate.

Because we are a Directly Licensed Centre we deliver the programme to our own pupils at school. We run the DofE as an extra-curricular activity for Year 10 and take-up of this optional pursuit is high here at Hydesville.

The experience is open to children aged from 14 and there are three levels of award – bronze (aged 14+), silver (aged 15+) and gold (aged 16+). The bronze award has four sections; Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. Pupils complete a minimum of three months activity for each of the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections and plan, train for and undertake a two day / one night expedition.

There are lots of reasons we encourage pupils to take part in the DofE, not least because:

• From the first day to the last it is a real adventure. Pupils get something different and useful from every section.
• Pupils enjoy new experiences and, in challenging themselves to step out of their comfort zone, they discover talents they were not aware of.
• It’s great to be formally recognised and rewarded for positive, constructive activities that benefit the individual and their community.
• Achieving an award helps sets young people apart when applying to college, university or for work. It demonstrates ‘soft skills’ including communication, commitment, leadership and team work in practice.