C26 (Y9) across both schools have made a the first steps toward achieving their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award!

Students, with the support and guidance of dedicated DofE Leaders and Crew Leaders, will spend time each week working on a programme of activities which include:

• Skills: students will be undertaking a 3 month First Aid programme.
• Volunteering: students will spend 6 months raising money for their Crew charities, becoming reading mentors to younger students and litter picking around our community.
• Physical: 3 months of undertaking any sporting activity done as part of an organised club out of school, or by joining any of the after school clubs which will be launching soon!)
• Expedition: planning for and undertaking 2 days/1 night hiking expedition (dependant on Covid restrictions at the time).

Find out more here!

By the end of the academic year students should have done enough to have achieved their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. Students are expected to achieve all sections of their Bronze award programme unless they have a valid reason not to.

The DofE programme forms a crucial part of the Trust’s Outdoor Curriculum, and we are extremely grateful to the FXP for their continued support and fundraising efforts to ensure that we are able to purchase the Bronze welcome packs and enrol every student onto the DofE award scheme.  The welcome packs will be delivered to your home addresses after students have registered on the eDofE app and include a handy discount card for outdoor specialist shops!

If you have any questions specifically about the Bronze award, please contact your child’s Crew Leader, or you can contact me (Angella Parker) direct: [email protected]

*Just a note to add we have plans in place for C24 and C25 to complete the expedition element of their DofE award later this year! 

Here’s a quick update on how our Bronze and Silver students are progressing with their DofE award.

Skills

Both groups are well on their way to completing the skills section, and will be demonstrating their First Aid skills and knowledge at the end of term to their other year group bubble Crews at a mini Presentation of Learning event (hopefully they’ll not have to use their skills in ‘real life’ anytime soon!)

Volunteering

Students are also about to start work on their volunteering section, where they will be undertaking various school community service activities, such as litter picking.  In addition to this, all Crews have chosen a charity to support this year. There would usually be various fund raising activities planned across the year, but CV19 restrictions mean that this is going to be a bit of a challenge as they can’t do the usual things like bake sales, etc. But we’ll do what we can!

DofE aside, we as a school think it’s very important to support our wider community, so Silver students across both schools will be collecting items for Christmas Food Hampers, to be donated to our local food bank.  They’ll also be designing/sending Christmas cards to local care homes. These activities will be done during Crew’s Mindful Monday sessions.

Physical

We are more than aware that many out of school clubs that would usually count towards the physical section have been disrupted.  Students will still be able to submit evidence of what they’ve done so far, and we will support them by providing in-school activities so that everyone is able to complete this section.

Expedition

We are hopeful that we will be able to run the outdoor expeditions next year, depending on the situation and national restrictions in place at the time.  The DofE have made changes to the qualifying criteria meaning that participants will be able to gain the full award without the need for overnight stays, and hikes will probably start and finish at school.  The Expedition Team are excited to start planning and exploring some local walking routes!

That’s all for now, but if you have any questions about the temporary adjustments to the Bronze and Silver awards please visit the DofE website or contact [email protected] (Outdoor Expeditions Lead) or [email protected] (DofE Activities Coordinator)

Thank you.

Although we are currently in lockdown due to the corona virus this doesn’t mean that our DofE journey has to be put on hold!

The DofE award scheme has made some amendments to allow students to continue with their activities at home during CV19.

Any changes to a students programme need to be discussed and agreed upon with their crew leader but there is no reason they can’t change to activities that can be done at home during this difficult time.

I have students that have changed from playing football for their local team to now running for an hour a week using a phone app to record their evidence. Other students are helping to shop for neighbours to continue with their voluntary activity or listening to their younger siblings read.

There is further advice about this on the official website DofE.org

Obviously the expedition and residential aspects of the DofE Programe have been put on hold until further notice from the government. I will let you know of any changes to this situation as soon as possible.

Best wishes to you all and get creative at home but remember to evidence anything you are doing. I would love you to send photos of the things you’re doing. Email them to your crew leader or to me: [email protected]

Please speak with your crew leader if you have any concerns or questions or would like further support.

Please note that the dates for the silver expeditions were recently changed and I can confirm that  they are:

Practice: Friday 15th – Sunday 17th May

Qualifying: Wednesday 26th August – Friday 28th August

Thanks

Kate

I will be holding 2 Silver Expedition Introduction sessions on Monday 17th & then again on Monday 24th February.

Students need to book which session they want to attend and come along with their potential team members if possible. Students that haven’t yet got a group are welcome to book in too.

Students must email me to pre book the session they wish to attend.

The expedition dates are:

Practice Expedition: Friday 15th – Sunday 17th May

Qualifying Expedition: Wednesday 26th August – Friday 28th August.

Thanks

Kate

This year we have decided to trial a few changes to how we do DofE Expeditions at XP.

The Bronze Expedition will no longer have an overnight practice expedition. Instead we will spend the day hiking; learning navigational skills and return to school the same day. The qualifying expedition will still be an overnight expedition.

The Silver Expedition  will be voluntary this year for year 10 students. Students will still be expected to complete the voluntary, skill and physical sections of the programme.

We hope that by allowing students to choose to do the expedition we will create a much richer and fulfilling experience for those that participate. We would love for parents to encourage their son / daughter to do the expedition so that they can complete their full Silver DofE Award as this is an internationally recognised qualification.

Instead of the expedition planning sessions taking place on a Friday afternoon they will now happen on a Monday after school, however this won’t necessarily be every week.

The silver practice expedition will take place from Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th April and the Qualifying expedition will be from Friday 15th – Sunday 17th May. Whilst expedition students are out of school on these 2 Fridays the students that remain in school will be doing service learning within the community. 

Crew leaders have been fully briefed on these changes and can answer any questions you may have, however I am more than happy to receive emails or speak over the phone too.

This week in crew we will be asking year 10 students whether they would like to take part in the silver expedition. A letter will then be given to you at the upcoming SLCs for you to sign and give consent.

Thanks

Kate ap Harri

Students from post 16 went along to the tea party held by Doncaster Rotary club.

Students helped by serving tea & cakes and spending time chatting with the guests whilst listening to music. They even had a bit of a dance with a few of them.

This will also go towards their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award programme.

Badminton club starts tonight at 3.30pm to 4.30pm.

The session is open to all students.

This is a great opportunity for students to do the physical part of their DofE programme.