1. Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award   Bronze Award Programme: 2015-2016

2. Format of Meeting Information about the DofE Award nationally
Demonstration of the DofE website
Information about the DofE Scheme at the school
General questions
Individual questions – after the meeting

3. Levels of the Award
At Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School we are offering the following:
Bronze Award: Year 10
Silver Award: Years 11 and 12
Gold Award: Years 12 and 13
All participants have until their 25th birthday to complete the award, but they do need to complete their award, and have it approved by the DofE, before progressing onto the next level
Once started with DofE, participants can complete it at another centre: they just need to arrange to transfer their account

4. Sections Volunteering: 3 months Physical: 3 months Skills: 3 months
Plus an extra 3 months for any one of these – participant’s choice which one
Participation every week, averaging 1 hour per week
All activities must be unpaid and extra-curricular
Expedition: 2-day Training Expedition, then a 2-day Practice Expedition, then a 2-day Qualifying Expedition
Total time commitment: average of 200 hours to successfully complete the award

5. Completing the Award
For each section of the award, participants need to:
Set objectives and choose a qualified assessor
Submit programme planners and get them approved
Submit evidence and personal comments at the end of each section
Get signed off by their assessor and submit assessor’s report
Submit entire section and get it approved
Full information is on the DofE website:

14. Recording Progress Means of recording progress: eDofE Website:
Text entry
Activity logs
Photographs
Video or audio files
Activity programmes
Team lists
Course syllabuses
Documents
Certificates
Letters of thanks
Only evidence submitted onto the eDofE website can be accredited

15. Approval of Awards The procedure for approving awards is:
Participant uploads and submits evidence each week
DofE Co-ordinator checks and either approves or queries evidence (giving reasons)
When section is complete, participant submits section
DofE Co-ordinator checks and either approves or rejects section (giving reasons)
When DofE Co-ordinator has approved all four sections (Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition), award is automatically sent to DofE for verification
DofE check award and either approve it or request additional information or evidence
When DofE have verified award, participant receives confirming this from DofE
Certificate and badge are posted to school for presentation

16. Lunchtime Meetings 6 x Focus Meetings: 5 in Autumn Term
1 in Spring Term
Expedition Preparation Session: end of the Autumn Term
3 x Expedition Briefing Sessions: the week prior to each expedition
Expedition Presentation Session: 2 weeks after the Qualifying Expedition
Formal meeting takes about half an hour with time at the end for individual questions

17. After-school Meeting
Expedition Planning Session: start of the Spring Term
This meeting lasts for a full 2 hours straight after school

18. Expedition Section The Expedition Programme comprises:
Training Expedition: 2 days
Practice Expedition: 2 days
Qualifying Expedition: 2 days
They all involve carrying full expedition equipment and undertaking an overnight camp
Expeditions will all take place at different locations in the Chiltern Hills
They are all compulsory: any participants who miss any expeditions will need to arrange to complete them at a later date or with another approved expedition provider

19. Expedition Programme Dates
The school will be offering a choice of 2 Expedition Programmes:
Expedition Programme 1: Spring and Summer Terms
Expedition Programme 2: Autumn Term
This is to give participants a choice of expedition dates to allow for other commitments
It is also because we anticipate numbers of applicants being too great to all be on expedition together
Participants for each Expedition Programme will be selected in January

20. Expedition Programme 1
Training Expedition: Saturday 27 to Sunday 28 February
Practice Expedition: Saturday 16 to Sunday 17 April
Qualifying Expedition: Saturday 2 to Sunday 3 July
These expeditions will be official school visits and will have school staff attending providing the pastoral care and discipline and Zest for Adventure leaders providing the training, supervision and assessment
We co-operate with other local schools to try to help each other out if any students have to miss a scheduled expedition for some reason – a few individual students from other schools may be participating

21. Expedition Programme 2
Training Expedition: Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 September
Practice Expedition: Saturday 24 to Sunday 25 September
Qualifying Expedition: Saturday 15 to Sunday 16 October
This will probably be a joint Expedition Programme with other local schools – teams of students from other schools are likely to be participating
These expeditions are likely to be organised directly by Zest for Adventure – in which case, they will not be official school visits and will not have any school staff attending
They will, however, follow the same operating procedures, with the same staffing ratios, and will cost exactly the same

22. Applying for Expeditions
Expeditions limited to participants who have made good progress with the Volunteering, Physical and Skills Sections Requirements: submitted all programme planners plus 8 weeks of evidence in total Application and payment deadline: end of first week of spring term Successful applicants will get priority in choosing which Expedition Programme they wish to attend Unsuccessful participants will be allocated to Expedition Programme 2 to give them the opportunity to upload the required amount of evidence

23. Costs
Award Scheme:
Award Scheme Fee: £90.00 – payable in full prior to the autumn half- term holiday. Non-refundable
Expedition Programme:
Expedition Programme Fee: £ in total – payable in full by the end of the first week of the spring term. Non-refundable
Equipment Hire: typically £18.50 per expedition (depending on what you need) – hired from Buckinghamshire County Council’s DofE equipment store at Green Park. Refundable deposit required
Expedition Travel, Food and Fuel

24. Participant Numbers Award Scheme:
Numbers not planned to be limited in any way
Expedition Programmes:
Numbers on each expedition programme will be limited to 8 teams of 7 participants per team
If numbers exceed this, participants will be offered places on the other expedition programme
Ideally, participants can agree amongst themselves who does which expedition programme
Failing this, priority on expeditions will be given to participants who have made most progress with submitting evidence onto the eDofE website

25. Communication Communication with participants is by:
Lunchtime and After-School Meetings
Messages: to participants
School Website: The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award section
In addition, key information, particularly regarding expedition arrangements, will be ed to parents
We need to be kept informed of any changes to addresses
Application deadline: prior to the autumn half-term holiday

26. What Next?
Read the Launch Letter, Scheme Information and Calendar (available on the school website)
Complete the Enrolment Form (available on the school website) and hand in to the Finance Office
Make payment of the £90.00 Award Scheme Fee by ParentMail
Attend the first Focus Meeting at 13:45 on Thursday 17 September

27. How Parents Can Help
Read through this Presentation, the Launch Letter, Scheme Information and Calendar
Put all dates in diary
Read through regular meeting notes
Check eDofE website account regularly
Ensure any equipment is ordered on time

28. Contact
For information about the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School DofE Award Scheme, please contact the school’s DofE Co-ordinator: Alison Richards Telephone: Mobile: For information about the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School DofE Expedition Programme, please contact the school’s DofE Expedition Provider: David Goss Telephone: Mobile: