Dear Parent/Carer/Participant

15th May 2017

Dear Parent/Carer/Participant

I am writing to let you know that your son/daughter has expressed an interest in participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award Scheme from July 2017. This letter aims to outline the award and make you aware of the considerable commitment this entails.

The main elements of the Award are as follows:

The Silver D of E programme has four sections, volunteering, physical, a skill and an expedition.Participants will need to do six months volunteering, plus a minimum of six months on either physical or skill, and three months on the other.

The expedition section involves planning, training for and completing a three day (two night) expedition. Further details of the expeditions will follow later. A practice will also be carried out before the assessed expedition.

It will take a minimum of six months to complete the award, unless you are a direct entrant to the Silver Award. This will add a further six months to your award.

All Bronze participants must have completed their award before starting the next level.

Participants will be required to source two of the three sections themselves, before enrolling on the Silver Award Scheme. Participants must inform the Leader of the relevant details and they need to be approved before they can begin their activities.

Participants need to be in groups of seven, and we leave this to the students to organise. We will assist participants to find a group if necessary.

Participants will be given a logon for the eDofE site (Electronic DofE). This is an online profile for the student which contains details of their award and what they are doing. This will be sent to the operating authority during the final stages. It will require updating regularly to ensure the student will be able to participate with their current year groups expeditions.

They will also be given a eDofE booklet which contains sign off sheets for each of their sections, we will look after this until it is needed. They will also be given time sheets for each of their sections; these will be required at every meeting.

When each of their sections are completed the student will be required to upload a written report along with the time sheet for the section onto their profiles.

Each section requires an adult to oversee it for the time period chosen – please note: a relative cannot carry this out and overseers are required to be over 18 years of age.

Participants will also be required to attend training sessions; they will take place after College on a Tuesday after school in C1 at 3.30pm – 4.30pm. We will instruct your child and inform parents/carers when these are due to take place.

We will also need to take your child off school site during these sessions to do some navigation practice.

In order to fulfil health and safety requirements, it is imperative your child attends all training sessions. If they do not attend, they will not be allowed to take part in the expeditions.

We ask that all personal appointments are made after 4.30pm so that your child does not miss any training, and we would require a written letter if this is unavoidable.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is run by volunteers so whilst participating, participants are expected to show respect and follow instructions at all times.

The Enrolment for the Award is £125.00, which needs to be paid using our Parent Pay system. £60.00 is payable by Monday 10th July 2017 to cover the enrolment fees for the eDofE booklet. If your child is in receipt of free school meals, they could be eligible for financial support to help with the costs of the award. Please contact Mr Dudley, Assistant Head Teacher, for further information.

The remaining £65.00 will need to be paid by Wednesday10th January 2018

If you have not used the Parent Pay system before, please contact our Accounts Department at the college for help.

If your child decides to leave or is removed from the programme at Helston Community College then please note that all payments are non-refundable.

We will be holding a short DofE Information Evening on Monday 12th June 2017 at 6.00pm in the North Site Hall. This meeting is compulsory if your child wishes to take part in the award.

If your child wishes to still participate after the evening and agrees to the award guidelines written in this letter, then please collect an enrolment form after the parent DofE Information Evening.

Please return the enrolment form to Mrs Greig in C2 once the initial payment of £60.00 has been made.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

We look forward to the forthcoming training sessions and thank you for your support.

Yours faithfully

Mr D. Semmons

Helston Community College D of E Manager

Tel: 01326 572685 Ext 300

Mobile: 07719086127

Email: