Good evening
We’re now underway with our DofE Expedition training programme for 2019 with 9 silver and 15 bronze participants. Below are some updates and hints/tips.
Tuesday Nights: This term we will spend the majority of our Tuesday sessions to prepare the boys for their summer practice and qualifying weekends. We cover map and compass skills, campcraft skills (tents, stoves clothing, packing rucksacks), first aid, emergency procedures and the Countryside code. We’ll get out and about when we can but we do need to spend time in the “classroom” which can be challenging after a full day of school!
March Training Weekend: As per the DofE Information Evening in the autumn we will run an expedition training weekend on 23-24 March 2019. This is mandatory for the bronze group so please bare this in mind if you have any sporting or DofE activity commitments. Silvers are very welcome too but it is not mandatory. Location tbc but likely to be fairly local around the Warwickshire area and we will be camping so let’s hope it doesn’t snow!
Bronze Expedition Weekends: A reminder of the walking practice and qualifying weekends this summer are; 06-07 July (practice) and 20-21 July (qualifying). Locations tbc but it’s likely we’ll be heading to Shropshire and the Peak District.
Silver Expedition Weekends: As you know you’ve chosen paddling which means you will need to complete a canoe course at Leam Boat Centre which consists of 8 hours over 4 weekends at a cost of around £120. This year we will not run the bronze and silver weekends simultaneously due to the larger bronze group and suitability of walking terrain by the river. With that in mind, we are still working out availability of participants and adults. Dates will be confirmed asap but likely to be April – June, avoiding exams, half term, work experience etc.
eDofE: Please keep your eDofE accounts up to date – it makes it much easier to complete your sections at the end of the 3/6 months. There are still participants not to have entered their activities on eDofE. Remember – please don’t start an activity until we have confirmed it meets the criteria. If you’ve begun an activity it should be on eDofE. The CAG Leaders can help with any questions you have. Did you also know that participants can use m.edofe.org from their mobile device – this is a really easy way to take photos or photos of evidence and upload directly onto their edofe account. Capture evidence as you go – again, this makes it easier than leaving it to the end.
Activity Logs: These act as weekly diary entries to keep track of your progress for each of the three sections (skill, volunteering, physical). You need to complete the required number of weeks for the 3 or 6 month activity – taking into account holidays etc. You need to complete a minimum of 1 hour per week – doing 2 hours a week unfortunately does not mean you can complete the activity within 1 1/2 months for example! Uploading your activity log to eDofE is great evidence and reduces the chance of it being queried when your award is being validated and signed off. Activity Logs are available on the DofE website under each section.
Assessor Reports: Please use the Assessor Cards in your Welcome Packs or ask the assessor to add directly onto eDofE. They should not be typed in manually by a participant or parent as it won’t include the mandatory information needed to sign off the section.
That’s all for now and as always, please let us know if you have any questions.
Lindsay
DofE Manager
Challenge Adventure Group
