Duke of Edinburgh Award

The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at Homewood

Here at Homewood we offer the Duke of Edinburgh at all three levels, Bronze in Year 9, Silver in Year 10 and Gold in the Sixth Form.

The Expeditions 

School staff and other volunteers deliver the training and supervise the expeditions.  The initial training takes place during Term 1 where students will form their teams of between 4 and 7 and carry out team building exercises along with introducing students to campcraft, cooking, navigation, country code and first aid.

Duke of edinburgh 1

During Terms 2 and 3 students focus on completing their other three sections, volunteering, skills and physical.

Following training, between Terms 4 and 6, students learn route planning and carry out a practice expedition of the required level and duration. Teams will then  plan and carry out an assessment expedition, where assessors will either pass or defer a team.  If deferred, teams will have another opportunity during term 1 of the following year.

For both the practice and the final DofE expeditions teams are unaccompanied but remotely supervised.  This means that students do not have an adult with them for most of the expedition.  Each expedition team carries two mobile phones for emergencies so they can reach their supervisor.  We train students about what to do if an incident arises. We use  campsites that provide drinking water, toilets and showers.  They will need to drink plenty of water. For Bronze and Silver, we generally meet every team at least once during each day with additional water, as well as every morning and evening. We will be camping on the same site to provide pastoral support where needed.  At Gold level, students will be more self-sufficient as they will be journeying in wild country where road access is limited.  They will use natural water sources such as streams, with water purification tablets as necessary.

A list of equipment and clothing required for expeditions will be available on google classroom once students are enrolled. 

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Success for All - June 2023

Thirty-Six year 9 students packed their rucksacks and set off on their two day journey through the Kent countryside from Chilham to Pluckley with an overnight camp in Westwell. In their groups they had to plan their own route then navigate their way meeting the requirements for navigation, group conduct, campcraft, safety, first aid and cooking. Saturday was a warm day so had its own challenges as well as the navigational challenge of Kingswood for some which was overcome. Overnight they were met with thunder and lightning of which they were all brave and were fantastic. Putting away wet tents is never an easy task but they did it and continued their journey.

Hothfield common june 2023The Hubsters group consisted of 6 students, all with additional needs and were supported by Mrs Layzell from The Hub, who also completed the two day walk with them.

Students turned up with all their kit and shared carrying some of the equipment between them.

They all took turns reading the map which had been split into manageable sections with the route clearly marked.  As a team they worked well helping each other pitch their tents and shared with the cooking.

They also took part in some first aid training with Roy, their Assessor.

All students did amazing with little complaints and showed how well they can support each other. On completion some have already said they would like to have a go at the Silver award. Well done to all our Bronze participants. We look forward to issuing your awards in assembly and seeing you on the Silver Expedition.