In 2024 we ran a Duke of Edindburgh Bronze expedition programmefor two teams of home-ed pioneers, and we'll be running expeditions again in 2025. For years, home educators have been frustrated at not enjoying equal access to the award with those who attend school. There's such a congruence between the whole-person development ethos of the DofE Award and the ethos of home educators, and yet those who were not in a uniformed organisation or lucky enough to have a local authority with an open award were excluded.

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The good news was that we managed to open up a route for Home Edders to do their Award through "DofE Direct".

The bad news is, that option is no longer available.

 

The even better news is that we are in the process of registering as a National Operating Authority for DofE so we'll be able to support you much better in your Home Ed DofE journey. Please sign up for our updates as we'll announce in them when we're ready to accept registrations. We'll also be running an expedition programme again next year, sp see below for a flavour of that.

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LAST YEAR'S PROGRAMME - NOT DATES FOR THIS YEAR!

Bronze/Silver Expedition Details - Save the Days!

31 May – 2 June - Training Day and Practice Expedition - Ashdown Forest (East Sussex)

27-28 July - Qualifying Expedition Bronze (South Downs to Eastbourne)

26-28 July - Qualifying Expedition for Silver (South Downs to Eastbourne, starting a day earlier for a 3-day, 2-night expedition)

Either the East Sussex area or in the Chilterns – we’ll confirm once we see where people are located.

Bronze £349 for all five days, three nights. Silver £399 for all six days, three nights.

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Here's a useful page with a video of advice and a download of the minibook we give to all participants on our expeditions.

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We’re pleased to announce that we have negotiated access to the DofE Award scheme for home educated young people across the UK. We've teamed up with our sibling company, Outspark, also run by Jason, to offer a Bronze and Silver  expedition programme in May-July 2024 - many of you may have met Outspark staff Martin, Jenny & Tim on our Weekenders. Those of you who do any of our online classes already have the Skills section of your DofE covered, and the Award is a great opportunity to develop new skills and interests. 

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The Expedition Programme

Before the Training/Practice, we'll get together on Zoom so you can form teams, get some advice on kit and menu planning, and work out a menu and who is bringing what.

 

On the training day, your team will walk with an instructor to learn the skills of navigation, emergecy procedures and so on. Back at camp in the evening, you'll learn about campcraft  - tents, cooking on camping stoves etc. before getting a hopefully good night's sleep ahead of your practice expedition which starts the next day.

 

On your practice expedition, you're a self-sufficient team of seven, walking independently between checkpoints to a different campsite, and then on the third day on to your final destination. It's a bit like a dress-rehearsal for your qualifying expedition - a chance to make some mistakes, learn from them and be ready for your final challenge.

 

On the qualifying expedition, you'll take all you've learned to be a smooth expeditioning machine - or at least not to get as lost for as long! You'll have opportunities to plan your menu and organise as a team in advance. 

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Those who do go to school but who want to do their DofE alongside home-educated friends that they’ve met on our residentials should be able to join in too. Please note that you can register with DofE Direct whether you want to do your expeditions with us or not, and we're also happy to help with tips for expeditioning and other sections in our drop-in zooms. If you're too far away from the southeast to do your Bronze/Silver with us, we might be able tro recommend a more local expedition provider.

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GENERAL DOFE FAQS

Is there a deadline to register?

You can register with DofE at any time. We aim to open bookings for the May-July Bronze/Silver Expeditions programme in time to include a face-to-face meeting in the January residential for those who attend that, but that's just for convenience. We expect to close bookings at the end of February to give plenty of time to form teams that can  plan together in a zoom meeting before the expeditions. But we'd recommend getting registered as soon as you can - it's good to get a few sections under your belt before your expedition. Of course, we expect these expeditions to be an ongoing thing, and to create opportunities for Silver and Gold too in the following years.

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Can I register even if I don’t do any classes with P4HE/Gift and will be doing my expeditions elsewhere?

Yes. We’ve taken a lead on negotiating with DofE about home educator access because we know the Award well and can set up an expedition programme with home educators in mind. But it’s an opportunity for the whole community.

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EXPEDITION FAQs

Who is running the expeditions?

The expeditions will be run by Outspark, an Approved Activity Provider for the Expedition section. It’s also registered with the Adventurous Activities Licensing Authority, and has a Learning Outside the Classoom Certificate. It’s run by Jason who is Director of Studies at GIFT/P4HE, and those of you who come on our Weekender Residentials will have met Jenny, Martin, and Tim who all work for Outspark too. They’re nice people who get the ethos of home education. GIFT/P4HE will administer registering for the expeditions and provide pastoral support, with the help of some parent volunteers. Other Approved Activity Providers are available.

 

Where can I learn about expedition skills?

Click here to download “Smashing My DofE” which Jason wrote as a handy guide. You’ll get a copy if you do your expeditions with us.​​  

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I can’t make both sets of dates. Can I still take part?

If you are able to do your training and practice with us, you should be able to find a provider to do your qualifying expedition with. The cost for the training and practice part alone would be £225. If you are able to do a practice expedition with another provider, you will be able to do your qualifying expedition with us as long as there is space in a group – we wouldn’t really want to split a group of seven to make two fours when they’ve already completed an expedition together. The cost would be £175. If you can complete a practice expedition with another provider, you may be able to join us for the qualifying expedition.  

 

Do you provide kit for the expeditions?

Outspark will provide stoves, gas, pans, compasses, maps, emergency phone. We also have a limited amount of tents that we can provide if your group don’t have enough. We can’t generally provide personal kit such as rucksacks, but let us know if you’re struggling as we have some spares.

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Can we choose our own teams?

As far as possible, yes. Teams should generally be of seven people. They can be single-gender or mixed. You can form your own teams but we ask you to be welcoming to filling up spare spaces with people who don’t have a team yet, or sometimes to splitting a team so that everyone can find a team. (For example, if there are 7 of you and one extra person, we’d need you to split into two teams of 4).

 

How does transport work?

You’d need to be dropped off and picked up. During the expedition, you’ll be your own transport! We’ll have cars available in an emergency of course. At the end you’ll need to be picked up from your destination. We’ll encourage car-sharing.