We have been a DofE Directly Licenced Centre since 2014 and this month we were delighted to be awarded the licence for a further three years. We received some fabulous feedback (see below) from the DofE Organisation demonstrating just how much DofE participation is embedded into the School’s culture. In particular, it was highlighted how our students benefit from extensive support across the whole SWPS community; including from our long-standing volunteers, our staff and the provision of a wide range of co-curricular clubs. Our clubs (rowing, sports, music etc.) provide opportunities for our students to work towards their volunteering, physical and skills sections whilst at school. We are particularly proud of some of the lovely volunteering activities our students have been involved in, including helping at local food banks, youth groups and Brownies. Incredibly they clocked up just short of 3000 hours of volunteering time between April 2021 to March 2022 and are well on target again this year.
“The school has an outstanding team of volunteers that come back year on year and have a real passion and commitment to DofE that I have not seen elsewhere.”
“Sir William Perkins’s School has historically been able to and continues to deliver an excellent DofE Award.”
Also, this month we ran a very successful training day for both our new and experienced DofE volunteers. Not only was it a fun day sharing experiences but we also covered a wide range of topics from safeguarding scenarios, minibus driving assessments to eDofE mapping. Next steps are to begin our outdoor programme starting with our Silver Training Day Walk, followed closely by our new volunteers’ weekend walking and camping in the Surrey Hills.
The DofE Award Scheme are holding an Online Completion Session on Monday 27th February, 16:00-18:00. The School sees this as a great opportunity for any of our students who need support to complete their Award. They will be offered one to one support with a member of the team from the DofE Award Scheme and by the end of the evening will have an action plan that breaks down what they need to do to complete the remaining sections of their Award.
The session will require parents or carers to be present as breakout rooms will be used and the participant will need to log on and discuss their Award.
This is open to all participants and carers currently doing DofE around the country – All you need to do is join the Teams link from the flyer on the day!
