Solitary chicken - need advice

[chickencam]

My ED is just embarking on this and I would be interested to hear what sort of volunteer work others have done and also what physical activities they have done.

 

She is doing wood carving for her skill which will be her 6 month activity. She has made a couple of love spoons so far.

 

Oh managed to slice deeply into his knuckle on his index finger with one of her knives yesterday. She wears a kevlar glove he was too proud

[Couperwife]

I've helped on D of E before

 

I was involved in the walking part (cant remember what the official name is )

 

we had to do a number of shorter "practice" walks, then one longer overnight walk.

 

I really enjoyed it (and I was only helping )

 

hope that she enjoys it too.

 

I would love to see a picture of the wooden love spoons

 

cathy

x

[Sheilaz]

It's such a good idea, best wishes to your daughter in this.

 

I work for Oxfam & we often have D.Of E. teenagers, & sign the hours for their voluntary work section. They are a tremendous asset to our shop so maybe there is one near you to try?

The other side is how the students learn & develop in the weeks they spend with us, and of course it is great for their C.V.s.

 

My son volunteered assisting in a nursery school when he did his Gold, so that's another idea. Not much help on the physical side as he did something involving skateboarding

 

Good luck!

[gooner.girl]

For my D of E bronze i seem to remember that i did for the skill - pig keeping for the sport - High Jump and for the voluntary thing me and a friend helped out in an old peoples home - chatting and playing board games with the residents etc.

[Cooks]

my nephew is away at the moment doing something related to this. I know because brother said the backpack was bigger than him

[chickencam]

We thought charity shops might be a good idea because we have 3 in walking distance including a Red Cross shop and bookshop

[Swinnys Hinny]

ED is doing this at the moment. She helped in a local old peoples home making cups of tea and chatting to the residents on a Sunday afternoon one hour a week. For her physical activity she is a member of the netball team and practices at least once a week so used that.

SH

[Cooks]

now you've got me wondering what my nephew is up to with a large back pack...

[susiepoos]

I did D of E many moons ago and the set up has probably changed a bit now. For my voluntary work I worked in the local hospital as a volunteer talking with patients and handing out cups of tea - I also worked with the WRVS in local day centres, hospitals and meals on wheels. A friends son worked in the local animal sanctuary dog walking but you see teenagers in the local charity shops helping out.

 

I think it's a great thing to do and it gets youngsters out doing useful things rather than just playing on the playstation all day. Unfortunately I haven't been able to persuade my own children to do it which is such a shame. I eventually got my Gold award and went to Buckingham Palace to meet Prince Phillip - I may not approve of his lifestyle but he was a lovely man and spent quite a bit of time talking to us all - lovely sense of humour.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

This is good timing as YS has just received the DoE bumph .

 

ES didn't do it so I've a couple of questions I hope someone can answer .

 

1. Re the skill, do they have to be assessed or is it just someone in authority wherever they work that fills in the logbook? We are struggling to think of a skill (although I have a friend who teaches piano, if I can persuade YS ).

 

2. Re the sport, can they use an existing sport, ie Sunday football? If so, again, who assesses that? Would fell running with his Dad count or would he have to go in for races?

 

3. How much time realistically does it take up? YS does sport most days after school and on Sat/Sun. I'm worried that it would take up a lot of his little remaining free time.

 

Hope someone with experience of it can shed some light . Thank you and sorry for hijacking your post Chickencam .

[chickencam]

No probs the more info the better

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Well, I met a friend this morning whose son completed the Bronze award this year.

 

So I now know that YS can use his rugby as his sport - he trains twice a week and plays on Saturdays - can't use the training but can use the matches.

 

I'm hoping I can ask my Dad's nursing home if he can help out there sometime.

 

And she also said that an after school club which he hasn't been to before will be OK too.

 

So I reckon we've covered everything and he'll be handing the form in on Monday .

[Sheilaz]

now you've got me wondering what my nephew is up to with a large back pack...

 

I can't remember what this part is referred to as either, but as Couperwife said "the walking bit".

 

My son certainly went on a walking/map reading/camping trip for each award. He thought that was the best part, and it really did give them all some good challenges & experiences and valuable lessons for life.

 

How this works may depend on how the D of E is supervised, whether you have applied independently or have a local organiser.

[Chicken Licken]

The walking bit is the expedition - usually they do a couple of practice walks to build up navigation skills and then their assessed expedition. We used to run Dof E after school 1 night a week to build up the expedition skills section, but expected the kids to pretty much organise the rest themselves (with advice of course). They have to do a physical activity, skill and service and most can organise this without too much bother. At gold you also have to go away and do a residential with people you don't know.

I am a big fan of D of E. I did Bronze, silver and gold myself and ran it at my last school for almost a decade. Now I've hung up my boots and keep chickens instead. I bet chickenkeeping could be a skill too!! The award these days encompasses almost everything and is all about widening access and engaging young people. I amy even start running it with our special needs students. Have a look at the website for more info it is at http://www.theaward.org/