DofE Presentation Evening
Our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award presentation evening on Tuesday 11th February was an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the hard work and commitment Weatherhead students demonstrated on their journey to achieving their Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.
Nicky Cage, DofE Operations Officer for the West, presented the awards to the 2018-19 participants. This was the largest cohort to date with 91 Bronze and 53 Silver completed and a whopping 41 Gold awards nearing completion. (The Gold award can take over 12 months to complete.)
The awards evening was also an opportunity to thank the staff and volunteers (23 staff, 5 external volunteers, 3 minibus drivers) who gave up weekends and bank holidays to assist with the programme and the parents and carers who enabled our young people to be involved with this prestigious award.
The final award of the evening, the Chris Vernon Jones Award, was awarded to a student who went above and beyond, encompassed the Duke of Edinburgh journey and provided a beacon to fellow students. This award is in recognition of all the years that fellow colleague Chris, who is sadly no longer with us, contributed with the DofE scheme at Weatherhead High School. This year, the award went to Silver Award student Meg for her natural leadership and organisational skills. Her assessors reports across physical, skill and volunteering were so commendable with frequent references to her being “dedicated”, “having a lovely nature” and “making such a difference”.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award can be a life-changing experience for students, an opportunity to discover new interests and talents, a tool to develop essential skills for life and work and a recognised mark of achievement; respected by employers. There are four sections for students to complete at Bronze and Silver level and five at Gold. They involve helping the community/environment, becoming fitter, developing new skills, planning, training for and completing an expedition and, for Gold only, working with a team on a residential activity.
For more information about the Duke of Edinburgh’ Award visit: www.dofe.org.
