Duke of Edinburgh at Trinity Academy Halifax

The Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award is offered to all students at the academy in Year 9, as part of the curriculum. Students have timetabled sessions during the year as part of the Personal Development Carousel, and they will also have sessions with VT time.

This qualification is funded by the academy and it runs alongside the Trinity Challenge programme that students also complete during Year 9. The intention of this is to provide an opportunity for students to build character and promote and support health and wellbeing.

For those students who want to continue, students in Year 10 and 11 will have the opportunity to achieve their Silver Award. Trinity Sixth Form Academy also offer the Silver and Gold Awards so progression is available with the Trust.

This is a great opportunity for students to try something new or choose activities they already enjoy – either way, they’ll gain skills, make friends and achieve an award that’ll set them up for life.

Achieving an award will give you skills, confidence and a view on life that everyone is looking for, from employers to colleges and universities. The award allows you to be recognised for doing things you want to do (and may even be doing already). You make a difference to other people’s lives and your community, will be fitter and healthier, make new friends and have memories to last you a lifetime. And above all, it is great fun!

What is the Duke of Edinburgh Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, which recognises adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement exercises. The programmes are at three progressive levels, which, if successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

With assistance from adult leaders, participants select and set objectives in each of the following areas:

• Volunteering: Undertaking service to individuals or the community
• Physical: Improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness activities
• Skills: Developing practical and social skills and personal interests
• Expedition: Planning, training for and completion of an adventurous journey in the UK or abroad

To achieve an award, the participant must work on each section for a minimum period of time, and must be monitored and assessed by someone with knowledge of the chosen activities. Each progressive level demands more time and commitment from participants:

• Bronze: 3–6 months
• Silver: 6–9 months
• Gold: 12–18 months

Participants are required to show regular activity and commitment to the award for the duration of the programme, which is usually at least one hour per week. Trinity Academy Halifax offers various after school and extracurricular activities that may be used for any one of the Volunteering/Physical/Skill sections. Bronze participants will complete their skills section by completing the challenges set out in the Trinity Challenge.

Further details of the activities that will count towards your award can be found here: DofE Ideas.

Recording My Progress

To achieve an award, you need to prove what activities you’ve been doing, show how you’ve progressed and that you’ve met the goals you set for each section.

eDofE is the online system that means you can record your DofE programme and activities, and prove what you’ve done in loads of different ways.

All students will have been given an eDofE username and should have set their own password. If students have forgotten their password they can be reset on the website and a new password will be sent to their school email address.

The web address for the eDofE login page is: https://www.edofe.org.

The Expedition

The Expedition Section is arguably the most exciting aspect of doing the DofE. The award that you are enrolled on will determine how long your expedition will last and the location it will take place.

Each award demands more time in duration for the expedition:

• Bronze: 2 days, 1 night camping (in the local area)
• Silver: 3 days, 2 nights camping (in the local area and also including an overnight Practice expedition)
• Gold: 4 days, 3 nights camping (in ‘wild country’ – e.g. Lake District/Scotland and again including a Practice expedition)

This is what some of our previous participants have said about DofE…

Taking part in DofE really does give you the skills for life and work. But don’t take just our word for it – see what these national newspapers say…

Independent – Give us a job – How graduates can stand out from the crowd.

Telegraph – Sixth Formers must look beyond the classroom to impress.