Making the most of the DofE in schools

Ask your headteacher and governors to include the DofE into your school’s curriculum during quieter times in the academic year. Having the DofE as part of the curriculum should enable more staff members to volunteer and therefore make it a much better experience for everyone involved.

If potential new participants are unsure if they want to sign up to do their DofE, offer them a half-day taster session. This way, they can then test if it’s something they’d like to have a go at.

Encourage your participants to share why they’re enjoying their DofE Volunteering section through your school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. By creating your own hashtag for this, you’ll be able to celebrate their achievements with the wider community and other participants at your school can join in the conversation.

Moving away from having one staff mentor per group to assembly-style presentations to share information can help you organise DofE expeditions at a more reasonable cost. Not only does this allow you to ensure that all of your students have the important details they need but also that you’ve covered the basics before they break into smaller groups to plan the specific details, such as their route.

Invite parents to support another student to help with their costs, and reach out to local companies for sponsorships to help with funding DofE programmes at your school.

Identify additional sources of funding available to support extracurricular activities, such as Pupil Premium, and submit your requests and bids (always demonstrating the impact and benefit of the DofE on your pupils, teachers and school as justification).