Welcome to the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme that we run here at the Branston Community Academy. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE), founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the world’s leading youth achievement award, giving millions of 14 to 25-year-olds the opportunity to be the very best they can be. There are around 300,000 participants annually in the UK and 144 nations operate the scheme.
The Award is a life-changing experience. A fun time with friends. An opportunity to discover new interests and talents. A tool to develop essential skills for life and work as well as a recognised mark of achievement; respected by employers. Achieving an Award will give skills, confidence and an edge over others when applying for college, university or a job. It goes beyond academic achievements and universities want to see evidence of so called ‘soft skills’ that have developed through extra-curricular activities, such as communication, commitment, leadership and teamwork. The DofE Award is a fantastic way to demonstrate and evidence these skills in practice.
The length of time spent on each section depends on the level of programme they are doing. Young people will choose what they do and along the way they will develop experiences, friends and talents that will stay with them for the rest of their life.
Taking part in the DofE will give the young person skills, confidence and a view on life that everyone is looking for, from employers to colleges and universities. They also get recognised for doing things that they want to do (and may even be doing already) …plus they will make a difference to other people’s lives and the community, be fitter and healthier, make new friends and have memories that will last a lifetime. But most importantly it is fun and enjoyable.
Branston Community Academygive young people in Year 9 the opportunity to enrol onto the DofE Bronze Award.Silver and Gold Awards are available to those in year 10 and above.
The young people of Branston Community Academy have the exciting opportunity to enrol onto The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE)
They will be working towards achieving their Bronze, Silver and Gold Award by completing a personal programme of activities. These are:
Volunteering – helping someone, the community or the environment
Physical – becoming fitter through sport, dance or fitness activities
Skills – developing existing talents or trying something new
Expedition – planning, training for and completing an adventurous journey
Residential (Gold only) – staying and working away from home as part of a team
Bronze Award
The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme is the world’s leading achievement award for young people. At Branston Community Academy we launch the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award in Year 9 through their assembly. It is open to all Year 9 students interested in the scheme.
The Bronze Award is made up of the following sections:
Volunteering - 3 months
Physical - 3 months
Skills - 3 Months
Expedition - 2 Days, 1 Night
Plus a further 3 months in either the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections
The Bronze expedition is 2 days and 1 night with 6 hours of planned activity each day, at least 3 hours must be spent travelling; there will be extensive training, route planning, a practice expedition and assessed expedition. The Expedition is run inhouse and is a walking expedition.
The training for the expedition section takes place on a Tuesday afterschool for 1 hour a week, in addition to a navigation training walk in April, an over night training day in May before the qualifying expedition in June.
More information can be found here:
Silver Award
Students in Year 10 may progress to their Silver Award.
The Silver Award includes the same sections as Bronze: Volunteering, Physical, Skills, and Expedition, with a commitment of one hour per week for the sections and there are still minimum timeframes for taking part; the young people will choose their longest section when they first access their Silver account.
The Expedition is 3 days and 2 nights with 7 hours of planned activity each day, at least 3.5 hours must be spent travelling; there will be a practice expedition and the assessed expedition. Training will be more rigorous than on previous levels as the locations that the students will navigate and camp in are far more challenging.
The enrolment can take place in year 10 as soon as the young person has completed their Bronze Award.
The training for the expedition section takes place on a Tuesday afterschool for 1 hour a week, in addition to a navigation training walk in April, an over night training day in May before the practise expedition that is being planned for July and the qualifying expedition in the September of year 11.
More information can be found here:
Gold Award
The Gold Award includes the same sections as other Awards: Volunteering, Physical, Skills, and Expedition, with a commitment of one hour per week for the sections and there are still minimum timeframes for taking part; the young people will choose their longest section when they first access their Gold account.
The Expedition is 4 days and 3 nights with 8 hours of planned activity each day, at least 4 hours must be spent travelling; there will be a practice expedition and the assessed expedition. Training will be more rigorous than on previous levels as the locations that the students will navigate and camp in are far more challenging.
The Residential Section. To earn the Gold Award, participants must complete an additional section – the Residential. This involves an exciting and rewarding experience: spending five days and four nights away from home, engaged in a shared activity with unfamiliar people.
The enrolment can take place in year 11 as soon as the young person is 16 years old and has completed their Silver Award.
We are planning to be able to deliver the expedition in house form September 2026. The proposal is for the training for the expedition section takes place on a Tuesday afterschool for 1 hour a week, in addition to a two day navigation training weekend. A Practise expedition In July at the end of year 12 and the Qualifying expedition in July at the end of year 13.
More information can be found here:
For further information about DofE at Branston Community Academy please contact Mr Kerrigan the DofE Manager and Coordinator, Miss Slesser or Miss Sheard. dofe@branstonca.lincs.sch.uk or by taking a look at the following links:
Below Is a table that shows how many students have achieved gold,silver and bronze over the last few year.
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