Devon schools celebrate the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at St James’s Palace

Mary Youlden
Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2017 - 7:16am

On Thursday 12th October, representatives from five schools in Devon received a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) Licensed Organisation certificate from celebrity presenter, Philip Schofield at St James’s Palace in London.

The five schools, Exeter College, Teign School, Honiton College, Uffculme School and The King’s School received their licence to deliver The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award alongside 100 young people from the South West who were receiving their Gold Award at a Gold Award Presentation.

The DofE is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading achievement award for young people and a DofE programme involves volunteering, learning a skill, getting fit, planning and undertaking an expedition, and at Gold Level, also taking part in a week long residential. The DofE enables any young person, aged 14-24, to develop key skills for life and work, such as confidence, commitment and team working.

Mr Robert Gammon, Headteacher at The King’s School, attended the presentation on behalf of the school, and said, “The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is an important part of the extra-curricular offer at The King's School.  It has provided our students with an internationally recognised award which has encouraged them to take part in activities that stretch and challenge them beyond the classroom. 

“Each section of the DofE develops different skills and qualities in our students that enable them to be confident and well-rounded citizens who are well placed to make a positive contribution to the society in which they will live.  Achieving a DofE Award has been a significant achievement for many of our students and we are delighted that we have a broad range of students embracing the programme, from those who find school straight forward to those that face more significant challenges in their lives. 
“As a school we support students through The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award  and a number of students have continued on to start their Gold Award.”

There are currently over 2,400 young people taking part in a DofE programme across Devon through a variety of centres including both state and independent schools, special educational needs schools and colleges. 

Heather Thompson, Director of South West said, “It’s fantastic to welcome these schools to St James’s Palace to celebrate their ongoing support for the DofE in Devon. The DofE is on its way to enabling even more young people to do their DofE and the Charity can only do this with the support of schools and colleges in the region. Without the hard work of teachers, lecturers and volunteers young people in the area wouldn’t have the opportunity to do their DofE and transform their lives.”

To find out more about the DofE and how it enables young people to succeed, please visit www.DofE.org

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