What is the Duke of Edinburgh Award?

At Belvidere​, we are excited to provide students with the chance to pursue their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards. These awards encourage students to explore new activities, build important life skills, boost their confidence, and contribute positively to their local community. By participating, students can showcase qualities like resilience, creativity, teamwork, and courage. The DofE Award is widely respected by employers, colleges, and universities as a valuable recognition of a young person’s abilities beyond academics.
Please note, the Duke of Edinburgh Award is offered independently from the regular school curriculum and any queries should be directed to reception.

What do we offer at Belvidere?

We are proud to offer Year 9 students the opportunity to complete their Bronze Award here at Belvidere, while Year 10 students can work towards their Silver Award. Typically, both the Bronze and Silver Awards take about one academic year to finish. Afterward, participants may choose to pursue the Gold Award at sixth form college or university.

Much of the Award is participant-led, allowing students to complete it independently with support and guidance from the DofE leaders in school. The expedition section is organised and led by an external AAP (Gateway Outdoors), with support from school staff.

What do we look for in DofE participants?

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards are inclusive and flexible, welcoming all students regardless of academic or physical ability. The programme can be tailored to fit every individual’s personality and capabilities. If you have any questions or concerns before enrolling, please contact us at reception@belvidereschool.co.uk

To help students succeed in completing the Award, we look for participants who demonstrate the following qualities:

• Good time management and punctuality
• Self-motivation
• Willingness to collaborate in a team
• A positive attitude
• Ability to reflect on their own progress

When applying, students and their parents will be asked to sign an agreement outlining the expectations while participating in the DofE Award. These align with the Belvidere Code of Conduct. Participants who do not meet these expectations may be asked to complete their Award through a different licensed organisation.

Students with a history of behaviour concerns related to effort, attitude, or conduct should carefully consider their commitment to the Award. There may be discussions between DofE staff and students regarding suitability before enrolment.

Scheme Overview

Each level of the award has four sections and these are briefly outlined below.

Skills section – This provides an opportunity for students to develop a new skill or enhance an existing one. In the past students have learnt how to sew, look after animals, cook four course meals, umpire sports matches and play musical instruments.

Volunteering section – Our students really enjoy this section and relish the opportunity to help others in their local community. Belvidere students regularly volunteer to help in local charity shops, at after school and sports clubs for younger children, with elderly people and at the St. John’s Ambulance Service acquiring first aid skills.

Physical Recreation section – This involves learning a new sport or developing an existing sporting interest over a prescribed period of time. Students have taken part in a range of sports including swimming, cricket, cycling and canoeing. Completing this section, whilst being fun, also has the added benefit of improving students’ fitness along the way.

Expedition section – This is the part that is most commonly associated with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and our students really rise to the challenge. For each level students must plan and carry out a practice and then an assessed expedition. The expeditions provide a real opportunity for students to be self-sufficient, working as a team in challenging environments. We regularly carry out expeditions in the Shropshire Hills and Berwyn Mountains. The school is exceptionally lucky to have a stock of equipment to lend to students to support them with their expeditions and minimise the costs involved.

Quick Links

For general information about DofE - www.dofe.org

For accessing eDofE accounts – www.edofe.org

For uploading assessors reports - www.deofe.org/assessor