Why no DofE training in Reading School or Kendrick ?

[Guest55]

I've seen schools offer such 'outward bound' type things as school visits for the whole year group.

There are lots of sports which are keen to involve young people; try your local council website for clubs.

[Justinterested]

Skills for life is the main aim of all these activities of course and rightly so but remember that all the applicants for top courses at top unis and afterwards for top jobs will have perfect or near perfect academic qualifications. The question asked will be "What else have you done to distinguish yourself ?" With full respect to Guest 55 I think Gold Dof E and several years committment to Cadets and all that involves will def help .

[Guest55]

Gold D of E - possibly - but district/county level sports are better.

Something that a student has sorted for themselves always trumps these.

I deal with UCAS applications on a regular basis ....

[Justinterested]

Indiemum has already posted that boys are not sporty therefore this would not be an option for them .Cadets however caters for all levels of abilty aptitude and interest and will develop whatever potential they have .Many cadets compete at County level and beyond as well as being top cadets and they really have somethings to talk about at interviews.

[Guest55]

Anyone can try a sport like archery - you don't need to be 'sporty' to be good at it.

Most cadet activities are organised FOR them .... that's what I mean by devising their own hobbies. Many unis don't interview ...

[Justinterested]

All employers do interview and for the best graduate training schemes they have multiple interviews and assessment days when you need to have a great deal of experiences outside of academia to display.
Many Cadet activities are devised and led by the senior cadets themselves who are therefore developing great communication ,organisation and leadership skills.These are exactly what employers are looking for and are great for life in general .
If you would like to attend a Cadet session and see for yourself what goes on and the calibre of cadet and activies please pm me as happy to organise .I think you will be very impressed by the Cadets the volunteer staff and all the activities and opportunities.

[Guest55]

No I'm not interested at all in the Cadets but thank you for the offer.

I'm sorry to say that my father's experiences in WWII have completely put me off any involvement with the armed services.

All the skills students need can be gained by playing in an orchestra, being a prefect, work experience ...

[Justinterested]

Of course I appreciate your sentiments. Our parents and grandparents like most of our generation were also involved in both World Wars .However I think we have to move on and The ATC is a very forward looking organisation doing a great job . I suggest we leave this discussion here as it has strayed away from original post.

[Guest55]

Stop promoting the ATC on this thread then - it offends some people.

[Justinterested]

It was merely recommended as a provider of Dof E . Other providers are available ! This is one I happen to have experience of but have no vested interest in other than to share my very positive experience with others. As I suggested lets leave this discussion here and move on .