The need for social distancing has meant that participating in the DofE award scheme has become
increasingly challenging. Fortunately, the DofE Organisation have issued some guidance and temporary changes to the way the scheme operates to help young people to continue progressing their awards. These changes are summarised below with links to further reading.
Expeditions – All Expeditions are cancelled until the end of July at the earliest. Given the current rules on social distancing it’s hard to imagine how Expeditions can take place in the foreseeable future. It’s quite likely that this ban may well be extended beyond the end of July.
There are several measures that have been put in place to accommodate this. Not least of which participants do NOT have to complete the Expedition element of the Bronze Award before progressing on to Silver. However, they MUST complete the Skills, Physical and Volunteering sections (thereby achieving the 2020 DofE Certificate of Achievement) before they progress.
More details can be found on the DofE website HERE
All other sections - Participants can now change section activities more than once. Time spent on previous activities will still count towards completion. Full guidance can be found HERE
Useful links – For up to date information (including the above and more) visit https://www.dofe.org/dofewithadifference This section is constantly being updated as the temporary rule changes evolve. So, please check back regularly for updates.
Skills section. How about a free Open University Course? There is a wide variety of subjects that participants can choose from; https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue
Expedition training. Navigation is a practised art so participants can keep up with their navigation skills by taking part in this free home study navigation course - https://navtrek.org/products/home-study-navigation-course
Registrations – Participants should still continue to register using the Official County Registration Form which can be downloaded from HERE. Please send the completed forms to Derek Cleaver using the address specified within the form.
As of the time of writing there are no staff operating at Windsor OR Gilwell so registrations are NOT currently being processed. However, this situation is likely to change so we advise that forms are completed as normal. Derek will then process the registrations just as soon as staff are available once again.
And finally – Thank you so much for the work you’re continuing to do to support Explorers in both regular meetings and with their Top Awards. It’s important to consider the above changes to facilitate progressing the award whilst at the same time ensuring that young people are engaged and suitably challenged. If you are at all unsure about any of the changes OR for general advice, then please contact Derek Cleaver axedc@talktalk.net