DofE, should we bother?

[ninanina]

I totally disagree with most of what DG says.

It seems that everyhing that DG says gets under your skin. Is there a reason for that..?

[Bazelle]

Rereading this thread, I didn't realise DofE was expensive, how much is it?

[kenyancowgirl]

It does depend on your school - the official fees are set by DoE and seem reasonable but the school has to cover the cost of the minibus for transport, staffing, camp fees etc so add on - from memory it was £250 ish for Silver at our school - Gold more, Bronze less - but this could be completely wrong as, as I said, mine do not do it as they do other things themselves that are far more valuable!!

[Reading Mum]

Not doing it through school I think we paid £40 to join and then paid for each practice/expedition.
They chose to go to the Isle of Man for Silver so that was over £200 in the end including train and ferry plus accommodation at the beginning and end. An overnight practice was more like £20.

[kenyancowgirl]

Seems about the same as the cost the school gives covers the registration and all practise and "real" expedition costs.

[Reading Mum]

yes - staff were volunteers but the kids had to fund staff train/ferry (perfectly reasonable). If they had chosen an easier location the prices would have been less but they had a great time doing something quite challenging.
Bronze was cheaper as they only camped in the next county and did a circular route so no minibus.

[KB]

If staff are being paid then that puts the cost up.

We always paid our own costs but for valid reasons someye volunteers expect participants to cover supervisor costs.

If participants aren't camping at start and finish ( ours always did) then that will increase costs.
As will extra traveling.

It depends how much choice they have as to if you can influence the cost.
My concern is that if some decide to do something 'exotic' this can make it difficult financially for others.

It also depends where you live - for those in Wales, Scotland, Lakes, Peak District, South West etc the costs should be much lower.

[rhiane]

We've just received the invoice for DDs Bronze DofE and it's for £220.00 total.
She's doing it with the school, we're in Berkshire

[crazycrofter]

We've just received the invoice for DDs Bronze DofE and it's for £220.00 total.
She's doing it with the school, we're in Berkshire

Wow, that's a lot! Ours is £90.

Can I just ask - do other schools require kids to go to a weekly session? Dd's had to agree to one lunchtime a week for the whole year. She's incensed as she says other schools don't expect this! I'm assuming it's to do with the expedition, as her skills/sports/volunteering will be covered at other times. What's normal?

[crazycrofter]

DD was very keen to do DofE and we had to find an outside provider as school didn't offer it. She really enjoyed Bronze and Silver but was quite shocked by the lack of 'life skills' of some of those sent along on Bronze. The ones that struggled didn't come back for Silver! The school it looks like she is going to for 6th Form offers Gold so that will make life easier as the external group has now shut down (the council didn't have the resources to renew their license).
Finding volunteering for a 13 yr old was a challenge but now she is 16 everyone will have her and she has found somewhere she is very happy to be involved in.
She likes the expedition side and I like the fact that she will have to do something physical

ReadingMum - what sort of life skills did they lack? I'm anticipating my dd lacking skills too and I' m thinking the summer might be a good time to 'upskill' her?!