Kings’ School
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5PN
kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk
Kings' (Open) Duke of Edinburgh Group
Bronze Award
The Parents & Guardians of Y9 Students
28 June 2014
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Kings' (Open) Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Group will commence training for the
Bronze Award in September 2014 and is open to Year 10 students who are aged 14
or over. The Kings’ (Open) Group is based at Kings’ School, Winchester and is run
by parents and volunteers. Some information about the award is enclosed with this
letter. More can be found at http://www.dofe.org/go/Bronze/ .
Expedition Training
Much of the DofE Bronze Award is individual. The main focus of the cohort as a
group is preparation for the expedition. The participants will be placed into teams of
up to 7 and assigned an adult leader. They will be taught navigation, route planning,
camp-craft, and undertake weekend walks of approximately 14 km per day. We
arrange professional first aid training and ultimately prepare the teams for their final
assessed expedition in the New Forest in June 2015.
Bronze Award 2014/15
Please register your interest by completing the attached application form and
emailing it to kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk . Please be aware, that I will be using
the email address you use to invite you to an information evening in mid-July where
you will have the opportunity to ask questions and finalise your application to join the
Bronze Group if you decide to by signing the hard copy of your application which I
will have printed off for you. I am happy to receive applications on receipt of this
letter and until 15th July 2014.
Spaces are limited at Kings’ DofE and I would urge you to apply early. However, it is
possible for anyone who is interested to undertake the Bronze Award in Winchester,
because there are other opportunities locally including the Winchester (Open) Group
and also the Explorer Scouts. The Winchester (Open) Group has an information
evening on 10th July and another in September for anyone who would prefer to try
that group, or who is unsuccessful in obtaining a place with Kings’ (Open) DofE.
We charge £130.00 for the year to cover all activities, leader training, transport costs
and provision of some essential equipment together with an additional £16 to pay
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Kings’ School
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5PN
kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk
Hampshire County Council (HCC) for the DofE administration. If you have a problem
paying these fees please contact me.
The award requires commitment, and parents/guardians and participants will have to
judge if they have enough time to dedicate to DofE, possibly at the expense of their
sports and music commitments, and/or family time. Training is a mixture of
Thursday evening sessions (6:50 – 9pm at School) and weekend walks (timings
usually 8am – 4pm and may require parents/guardians to travel to drop/collect
participants). Please look at the attached training schedule to assess how it will
affect your time and your family.
It would be very useful if applicants could include a statement about why they are
attracted to the DofE, and or what they hope to achieve through doing the Bronze
Award at King’s (Open) Centre.
Any questions, please email me at kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk
Yours faithfully,
Imogen King
Imogen King
Bronze Award Coordinator
Attachments:
Structure of the Award
Description of Costs, Equipment and Outdoor activities
Communication and Enrolment Timetable
Schedule of Training 2014/15
Conduct and mutual respect
Hampshire County Council Participant Enrolment Form (separate document)
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Kings’ School
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5PN
kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk
Structure of the Award
The award is broken into four components:
Physical:
learning a new sport, e.g. rock climbing, dancing, squash, karate
Skill:
learning a new skill. This can be anything from playing a musical
instrument, to archery, to learning another language
Volunteering:
doing something for the community, e.g. volunteering in a charity
shop, working on a conservation project, or helping in an old
people’s home (please note participants cannot be paid for their
services and they cannot volunteer for a business.)
Expedition:
planning, preparing and undertaking an expedition in rural/open
country. This includes, two days of six hours walking at least 12
km/day in a self-sufficient group of four to seven participants.
Training and assessment will take place in such locations as the
Purbecks, New Forest and the South Downs
This is a big commitment. Although you have until age 25 to complete the Award,
most participants have completed their Bronze Award by the end of Year 10. Do you
have the time and commitment to do this? In the past, participants have found that
DofE has taken up a lot of their spare time.
For Bronze, the participant must carry out one of the Volunteering, Activity or Skill
elements for a minimum of six months and the others for a minimum of three.
Our focus within the Group is on preparation for the expedition. We will:


Form the participants into teams
Teach the following in practical sessions involving day and weekend walks:
 navigation, route planning and compass work
 camp-craft, including cooking and how to put up a tent
 countryside knowledge,


Arrange professional first aid training
Prepare the teams for their expedition
We will offer advice and will need to approve the choice of volunteering, activity or
skill but it is up to the participant to organise them.
More information on the Duke of Edinburgh award is found at http://www.dofe.org .
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Kings’ School
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5PN
kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk
Costs
The Kings’ D of E Award Group is run entirely by volunteers and does not receive
any outside funding either from Kings’ School or from Hampshire County Council.
Therefore participants will be expected to pay for the cost of their training as follows.

£16.00 Award Registration - covers record book and entrance pack

£130.00 Training fees to cover kit, transport, campsite fees, assessment fees,
hire of transport, use and purchase of equipment such as maps, gas, trangias
(portable cookers), tents, rucksacks etc.
I will collect these cheques at the information evening if you decide to proceed with
your application. As with all courses, if participants drop out after enrolment, the
funds will not be refunded. Cheques will be cashed in August once places are
allocated.
If you have a problem with paying the fees or purchasing equipment, please contact
me. (But still apply now to secure a place!)
Equipment
We have tents, rucksacks, trangias (team gas cookers), compasses and maps. The
only items of equipment participants are expected to provide are a good pair of
walking boots (not trainers or wellies), sleeping bag and mat, and waterproof jacket.
If you use your own rucksack it must be of approximately 55 or 60 litres capacity.
For anyone not wishing to purchase kit, this can be hired at a minimal cost from the
local HCC DofE Stores.
Outdoor Activities
Hampshire County Council has very strict guidelines about outdoor activities. Any
expeditions must be notified and approved by the DofE Award Unit and HCC
Outdoor Education. A risk assessment is completed for each expedition.
Trainers who lead the participants are registered with the Award Scheme and have
passed an HCC Outdoor Education Expedition Training Course. The ratio between
trainers and participants is strictly controlled. Trainers who drive a minibus have
passed a MIDAS minibus test. All trainers and adults helping with the Award have
been CRB checked and a proportion is First Aid trained.
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Kings’ School
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5PN
kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk
Communication
The Duke of Edinburgh Award uses the e-DofE system (www.edofe.org) – a website
on which all of the award activities must be registered and evidence loaded in order
to complete the award. Participants must be willing to communicate with their leader
via the e-DofE system and to record their progress in each activity to enable them to
complete the award. Participants will need to make a commitment to use this system
on a regular basis. Tasks that they will have to carry out on this system are:

Completion of their registration – logon id and password are provided, after
which participants need to enter contact details and change their password to
one that only they know.

Request approval for all their activities – for each of the volunteering, skill,
activity and expedition, participants must enter what activity they want to
undertake and get that approved by their leader before they start the activity.
The rules are quite strict and we advise that you study the information provided
on the DofE website www.dofe.org.

Upload evidence – minimum requirement would be to upload a scanned version
of the award book, signed by the assessor to say that the participant has
completed the section with appropriate dates. Once uploaded, the leader can
approve it and confirm completion of the section. A personal comment or photo
must also be uploaded to give participants’ impressions of their experiences.
Communication with a large number of people is always a challenge. Other means
of group communication using either emails or text messages in a safe environment
will be discussed as training starts.
Enrolment Timetable
When
What
Comments
Now
Register your interest
using the application
form attached
Please use an email address that you would
like us to use for communication with you over
the coming months
early July
Places offered
The offer notification will contain a medical
and consent form for the participant, and an
invitation to an information evening
mid July
Information evening
Q&A session at the Kings’ Tower Arts Centre
and completion of application process.
Please bring cheque book for subscription to
the Group and to HCC
September
Start the Award
See the attached schedule
Page 5 of 6
Kings’ School
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5PN
kingsdofecoord@yahoo.co.uk
Provisional Schedule 2014-2015
Serial Date
Session
Event
Location
Autumn Term 2014
1
4 Sep
Thursday pm
2
6 Sep
7 Sep
3
4
18 Sep
25 Sep
Whole weekend
and overnight
Saturday
Thursday pm
Thursday pm
5
6
16 Oct
9 Nov
7
8
20 Nov
10 Dec
Thursday pm
SUNDAY
all day
Thursday pm
Wednesday pm
9
22 Jan
Thursday pm
10
8 Feb
SUNDAY all day
11
12
12 Mar
21 Mar
13
26 Mar
Thursday pm
Saturday
whole day
Thursday pm
14
25 Apr
26 Apr
30 Apr
7 May
14May
25 Jun
27 Jun
28 Jun
1 Jul
2 Jul
Team forming
Introduction to camp craft, map
reading and navigation Pinsent
Day Walk
Team time plus games
First Aid presentation given by St
John’s Ambulance
Introduction to e-DofE
Winchester Day Walk
Team time plus games
Christmas party event
Meet 18:50-21:00 in Tower Art
Centre unless stated otherwise
Based at Pinsent Scout campsite
and surrounding woods
Tower Arts and Community Centre
Tower Arts Centre
Tower Arts
Parents to drop and collect from
Winchester East Park & Ride
Tower Arts and Community Centre
Skating at Cathedral Close
Spring Term 2015
Safety presentation
Tower Arts
New Forest Walk
Start/finish at Royal Oak Pub
Fritham
Tower Arts and Community Centre
Travel by minibus – parents drop
and collect from Kings School
Tower Arts and Community Room
Kings School
team time plus games
Studland Bay Walk, Purbecks
Route planning for practice
expedition
Summer Term 2015
15
16
17
18
19
20
Whole weekend
Thursday pm
Thursday pm
Thursday pm
Thursday pm
Whole weekend
Wednesday pm
Thursday pm
Practice Expedition
New Forest area
Route planning for final expedition
Route planning for final expedition
Route planning for final expedition
Final prep and e-dofe prompt
Assessed Final Expedition New
Forest area
Practice
Assessed (also for parents)
NB parents to drop and collect from
2 different locations – details tbc
Tower Arts and Community Room
Tower Arts and Community Room
Tower Arts and Community Room
Tower Arts and Community Room
NB parents to drop and collect from
2 different locations – details tbc
Team presentations at Tower Arts
Team presentations at Tower Arts
Conduct and mutual respect
The DofE Bronze Award encourages personal development, and is an opportunity to
flourish as an individual. It is a privilege to get a place on the scheme, because only
a small proportion of applicants can be accepted due to the restriction on numbers.
It is therefore expected that participants will appreciate this and make the most of
their opportunity, and also to permit others to make the most of theirs. To reinforce
this understanding, a group ‘contract’ will be developed with the participation of the
young people during the first session.
Page 6 of 6