Do you want to work towards an Award that is internationally recognised; builds confidence and self-esteem; gives you the opportunity to develop and learn new skills; shows you are determined and dedicated; and gives you the edge over others?
Then the Duke of Edinburgh Award is for you!
The Duke of Edinburgh Award has been running at the Academy for 3 years now and is growing from year to year.
The Mission for the Award is to inspire, guide and support young people in their self-development and recognise their achievements. The Award’s aims link closely to the Academy ethos to create positive changes for the participants whilst realising and fulfilling their potential. There are 10 guiding principles of the Award that make it unique and accessible to all:
Non competitive – every participant can tailor make their own programme according to their individual starting point, abilities and interests making it a personal challenge.
Achievable by all – because each individual can decide what activity they want to complete for each section and at what level, everyone can achieve at their own standard.
Voluntary – the students choose to participate in the Award scheme and commit their free time to completing the Awards.
Personalised – students can design their own programme, deciding which activities to complete for each section, starting at any level within the age guidelines - Bronze Award 14+, Silver award 15+, Gold award 16+ and Awards to be completed by the participants 25th birthday. Students can also decide how long to complete each activity for within the Award guidelines.
Balanced – The awards cover different aspects enabling participants to develop mind, body and soul.
Progressive – each level of the award demands progressively more time, commitment and responsibility from the participants. For the Bronze Award the minimum involvement is 6 months, for Silver 6 months if you have completed the Bronze Award or 12 months if you haven’t, and for the Gold Award 12 months if you have completed Silver or 18 months if you haven’t.
Achievement focused – students should set their own challenging goals and show improvements over the period of time.
Demand commitment – each Award demands commitment and persistence from participants – it cannot be achieved overnight!
Enjoyable - by creating their own programme it should be enjoyable, fulfilling and rewarding.