The ethos of the Duke of Edinburgh programme is ‘to empower young people; to support them as they learn new skills, overcome obstacles, and build confidence and resilience.’ We couldn’t agree more and are proud at Tiffin to offer the Duke of Edinburgh programme to all of our students as a fully licensed Duke of Edinburgh provider.
First of all congratulations to all of our hard-working and committed students who have recently been awarded their Bronze Silver and Gold certificates and pins: a grand total of 172 Bronze Awards (25 to our Y13s, 53 to our Y12s and 94 to our Y11s); 6 Silver Awards (3 to our Y13s and 3 to our Y12s); and most impressively of all, 5 Gold Awards to our current Y13s who will be invited to attend a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace to receive their awards formally. And not to forget our current 132 strong Y10 Bronze cohort who completed their expedition in May this year, 14 of whom have already earned their Bronze Awards and are sounding keen to start their Silver Awards!
If you are not familiar with the DofE programme it consists of three tiers of Awards: Bronze, Silver and Gold that can be completed in succession, or in isolation within certain age bands. To complete each award, participants are required to commit to a Volunteering activity, engage in a Physical Activity and develop a Skill, initially for 3-6 months, and eventually up to 12-18 months as one progresses up the Award levels. At each Award level, participants are also required to participate in training and assessed expeditions which involve hiking with loaded rucksacks, navigating, setting up camp and preparing all their meals. To find out more, please visit the DofE website at https://www.dofe.org/do/.
Currently at Tiffin, we offer the Bronze Award to all students in Year 10 and, working with an external provider, organise a two-night, three-day expedition for all participants in the Sussex/Kent area that is supervised and attended by several staff members. You may know of other schools who offer the Bronze programme in Year 9, but we have found it a successful formula to run the Bronze programme in Year 10 as the boys are that bit more capable and mature.
In Year 11 we offer the Silver Award, which is also open to those who have not participated in the Bronze programme although the required timescales for each Section are significantly shortened if the Bronze is completed. Because the Silver Award is a step-up and designed to foster greater independence and initiative, students are expected to take the lead on their Section work while still being supported by the DofE manager. Silver candidates are required to participate in two separate two-night, three-day expeditions and make their own way to and from the expeditions. Although Tiffin continues to manage all the administration and approvals for Section work, the expeditions are run independently by our external provider and unlike Bronze, are not attended by Tiffin staff. This year’s cohort just completed their training expedition in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex and will complete their qualifying expedition in the Peak District later next month.
Finally, in Y12 we offer the Gold Award, a true challenge with 12-18 months spent on their Volunteering, Physical and Skills Sections, in addition to attending a four-night residential programme on top of a two-night, three-day training expedition and three-night, four-day qualifying expedition. Like the Silver expeditions, Gold expeditions are run by our external provider and not attended by Tiffin staff. This year’s cohort went to the Peak District for their training expedition (see photos!) and will complete their qualifying expedition in the Lake District later next month.
By participating in DofE, your children will not only have fun, make friends, improve their self-esteem and build confidence, but they will gain essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working, communication and drive. We look forward to welcoming new cohorts in the coming school year!
