Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
The Duke of Edinburgh Award is an outstanding initiative aimed at 14 to 24 year olds, and offers young people the opportunity to take part in a highly-regarded, challenging and fulfilling scheme which not only benefits the awardees but their communities too.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award was founded by the late Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh. Over the last seven decades, the scheme has been dedicated to the personal development of young people from all backgrounds and is the widest reaching programme of any UK youth charity with 275,000 young people taking part every year.
The Award operates across the world in different forms, with the aim of providing an opportunity for young people to learn new skills and develop existing interests in a non-competitive framework. It operates at three levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold) and tests across four disciplines (Physical, Skill, Volunteering and Expedition).
Duke of Edinburgh Awards at The Downs School
At the Downs School we are delighted to have been participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme for many years and in excess of 500 students have gained awards during this time. We celebrate their success during the year and are delighted with the number of hours students have dedicated to our local community. In addition, they have spent many hours developing an exciting skill or learning a new one and taking part in physical activities.
In 2024, over 150 students have been working towards their Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards. Mrs Miller-Cook, DofE Lead and Head of PE invites all students from Year 9 onwards to sign up at the October kick off.
