Last year, over 9,900 people achieved their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award from with over 240,000 awarded since the inception in 1956.
The Gold Award is a real achievement: participants spend 12 months on their Volunteering section, for Physical and Skills, 12 months is spent on one and six on the other, and finally a four day expedition (and three nights) has to be completed in ‘wild country’. The Gold level additionally has a Residential element where participants send a week doing a shared activity with people they don’t know.
It tests mental, physical, team working and service skills, stretching participants and really taking them out of their comfort zones. Participants have to be between 16 and 25, so we are talking in many cases about children. Pupils even receive their awards personally from the Duke of Edinburgh or Earl of Wessex at special award presentations.
You can see why most schools are genuinely delighted to achieve 1 or 2 Gold Awards from their pupils per year.
Abbotsholme is different. It produced 13 Gold recipients last year and is set to obtain 17 this year including an OA who has finally at the age of 24 completed his.
Pupils begin Bronze in year 9 after years of hikes, camps, canoeing and kayaking activities and trips, and can continue to do Silver in Years 10 and 11. Gold is the pinnacle of Duke of Edinburgh and pupils enjoy the challenge of this top award.
Joe Donnachie OA’08 decided to complete his after leaving Abbotsholme and has done so just before the cut off. This shows that you can continue the Abbotsholme ethos and love of Outdoor Education into life after Abbotsholme.
Abbotsholme is lucky to have a team of Duke of Edinburgh stalwarts including Joy Holmes, the Duke of Edinburgh Award coordinator, and Rory Sellar – Head of Outdoor Education – who was recently recognised for his 32 years service to Duke of Edinburgh. Rory has been involved with the DofE for his whole career, starting with the Derbyshire Youth Service and at various schools thereafter. His love of the outdoors prompted him to develop this love of working with young people, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a natural extension of this.
Tom Palmer, Assistant Head at Abbotsholme and a keen proponent of the Round Square Challenge weekend and supporter of Abbotsholme’s extensive outdoor programme received his 20 years award earlier in the year too.
Over the last five years, Abbotsholme has achieved 78 Gold awards which is an incredible tally of Gold awards for the school. It continues in its 125th year to go for Gold as more and more pupils reach Sixth Form and choose to test their endurance with this award.