DUKE OF EDINBURGH

Each academic year we typically have 130 students working towards their Bronze DofE Certificate, 90 towards Silver; and 20 towards Gold. In addition to completing physical and skills components and an expedition, each student volunteers in their community every week for up to 12 months.

• 5000+ hours of community service

• £23,500 social value

• 240+ pupils participating each year

Students volunteer for many local organisations including local sports clubs, local primary schools, neighbourhood associations, park services and church groups.

Activity choices are wide ranging. For example, in 2021 Cordeila (Year 10) supported FiSH Neighbourhood Care, an organisation that brings together older people living with dementia for tea and conversation. When lockdown eased sufficiently, she decided to deliver the ‘Cream teas in a Bag’ to the elderly at their homes.

Some pupils extend their support to global initiatives. For example, several students have joined the Médecins Sans Frontières initiative ‘Missing Maps’. This involves creating maps from satellite and high-altitude imaging resources to support welfare and relief charities in remote areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Others helped to train Machine Learning AI algorithms to recognise and categorise a diverse range of things including: identifying carbon dioxide vents on Mars, classifying fish in the sea near Hawaii, spotting wild animals across the world and counting penguins, chicks and eggs in Antarctica.