Dear Parent/Carer,

I’m delighted to let you know that we are about to launch our recruitment for the Bronze, Silver, Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE).

Why do DofE?
Doing DofE is a brilliant way for your young person to discover just how much they are capable of. It gives young people the chance to make new friends, follow their passions, learn new skills and make a difference in our community. Gaining a DofE Award is a great way to impress employers too.

It’s also non-competitive and a powerful way for every young person to build belief in themselves, whatever their background, interests and abilities.

How it works
There are three levels of DofE Award – Bronze, Silver and Gold. To achieve the awards, your child will need to complete four sections – Volunteering, Physical, Skills and the Expedition.

Students can choose what they would like to do for the first three sections, and we will provide all the guidance and support they need. The Expedition involves spending (two/three) days and (one/two) nights in the countryside, and again we’ll make sure that our young people are fully prepared for it.

Next steps
We hope many of our students will take this opportunity to get involved with DofE. There is a DofE Lunch time club every Wednesday in 2.09. The cost is £80 per person. If your child is interested in taking part but the cost is prohibitive, please do speak to me as we may be able to arrange financial support.

We will have a DofE keeping in contact opportunity for parents and students on 8th December Y9 Parents evening. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact me. The DofE website – www.dofe.org – has a lot of useful information too.

Mr. Gray and I are the DofE Leaders for The English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form, so if you think you might be interested or have any questions, do get in touch. It would be great to get a big group of students together to make the most of this opportunity.

Thank you for your support. I hope you’ll agree that the DofE is the perfect way for your child to feel ready for anything.

Rebecca Leighton
DofE Leader – releighton@ems.bhcet.org.uk