The Duke of Edinburgh Award
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for Boys established and chaired by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1956. The Scheme was established to give young people an opportunity to develop new skills and to encourage them to take a more active interest in outdoor activities. The Bronze level consists of four sections: Expedition, Volunteering, Skills and Physical recreation. The Award requires students to maintain their commitment to various activities over an extended period. It normally takes 6 months to complete the award at bronze and silver award (12 months if they have not completed the bronze award). Students are given support and guidance, however, they are expected to find their own activities to complete for the volunteering, skill and physical sections. The expedition section is organised by the school.
Key information:
- We can accept up to 42 places on the award.
- Any year 10 student can apply.
- To obtain a place students will have to complete an application form which will include a personal statement as to why they believe the award will benefit them.
- A parents information evening is held in November, followed by the application process in December.
- Students who have been successful in obtaining a place on the award will begin weekly training sessions on a Monday after school in January.
The Bronze award expedition training takes place over the course of year 10 and the expeditions take place in the Summer term in the Chilterns area. Further skills are also taught such as Fire Skills.
| Volunteering | Physical | Skills | Expedition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | 3 months | 3 months | Plan, train for, practise and complete a 2 day, I night expedition |
All participants must complete a further 3 months in one of these sections. | |||
Our Bronze award students also have the opportunity to attend a Fire Skills course at Watford Fire Station. This was introduced for our current Bronze award students of 2015. This is a 12 week course where students get the opportunity to work with the fire service and learn some of the skills required by the fire service. The students are given their own fire kit and fire engine to work with over the 12 weeks. This course has proven very successful with our current cohort and the Fire Service. Unfortunately this course has a limited number of places due to health and safety.
Skills our students will learn on the Fire Skills course:
1. Basic call out drills.
2. Hose running.
3. Ladder climbing.
4. Building dams.
5. Use of breathing apparatus.
6. First Aid.
7. Road traffic collisions.
8. Chip pan fires
9. Preparation for their pass out parade.
The Silver Award has been newly set up at Bushey Meads. We currently enrol our year 12 students. The students will complete their practice expedition in the final weeks of year 12 after their Summer exams. The second assessed expedition will be completed the following September when they return as year 13s.
| Volunteering | Physical | Skills | Expedition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | 6 months/ 3 months | 6 months/ 3 months | Plan, train for, practise and complete a 3 day, 2 night expedition.Silver Practice Expedition This is in the Autumn term and takes place in the Chilterns.Silver Qualifying Expedition This is in the Spring term and takes place in Epping Forest. |
Bushey Meads also offers a World Challenge expedition taking place every two years. Information on this will be available to students in an assembly at a later date.