Making the most of the DofE in schools

Approach your governors or your PTA to see if they can source additional funding or support you directly. This could be used to fund expedition trips further afield, minibus hire, driver training, or to add or replace items in your kit store. Using your development plan (future targets) and the report on your previous years successes can help demonstrate that their investment will continue to support young people for many more years.

Once you have confirmed your development plan and targets with your headteacher, share them with your governors. This will help validate your work, show your commitment and demonstrate the scale of your involvement.

Share your DofE delivery calendar and expedition calendar with your senior staff to demonstrate workload and commitment, and so that they are up to speed on all the DofE activities.

Share your DofE development plan, if you haven’t already, with your head teacher and senior staff. Once you have clear participation numbers you can be much firmer with your targets. This future projection helps to justify investment and spend in the early stages. Outline any additional financial support that you’re hoping to acquire. This plan can help demonstrate your ambition and is also a good opportunity to request extra support for your volunteers (such as ‘time off in lieu’ or free periods to cover DofE work).

Send all teachers a link to the online e-induction training if they’d like to know more about the DofE. You could also send them a link to a shared file containing the names and eDofE ID numbers of all participants, in case they are asked to be an Assessor. Explain the role of an Assessor and what they should include in their final report, if they’re asked.

Form tutors and subject teachers can also monitor their pupils’ progress to see if their DofE involvement has a positive impact on their behaviour, attainment or attendance.