Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

2021 – The Catch Up, now a short pause                                                              

After the disruptions to our program in 2020, including the long periods when expeditions were not run, 2021 (fortuitously) provided opportunities to catch up – so between the end of last year and the recent lockdown we were able to run fourteen hikes – five Bronze, four Silver and five Golds. This has given most of the students the chance to get “up to date”, and most should be on schedule to complete the Award by the end of year 12.

Generally, we’ve been lucky with the weather, so most hikes have held challenges, but not deterrents. In the first week of the last holiday we completed a Gold expedition from Hornsby to Brooklyn via Patonga and Wobby, and although winter threatened, we ended up with cool clear days and relatively mild nights – made cosier by a hot meal, a campfire and the company of close friends. It was great to see all but one of those fifteen completing their Qualifying expedition – although (on the downside) it is always poignant to realise it’s the last time we’ll share their sparkle and spirit.

We are now sitting in wait, hoping that the current lockdown does not endure, and we can get on with the second half of the year. In the meantime, we urge all the girls to stay positive, be involved and in-tune, and sustain the steady progress which has got them to this point.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

Continuing the Award during the Pandemic

There are many ways in which Participants can continue their activities for the Skills, Voluntary Service and Physical Recreation Sections from their own homes, to ensure they can keep their Award progress on track, whilst still providing enough evidence to Assessors and Award Leaders to continue progressing goals. It’s important to stay engaged, active and healthy in a safe and positive way and the Award can be a great way of doing so. Participants will continue to have my support and I am happy for you to call me, set up a zoom meeting or send an email with questions and concerns.

There are some rule changes to provide girls with solutions should they genuinely be unable to complete all Sections due to the current Covid19 related disruptions. These changes have been made to facilitate candidates fulfilling their relevant section in safe, practical and timely ways, so that the current difficulties do not hinder individual completions.

• Participants can do multiple activities to complete their Section hours. If your original activities are currently paused, you may need to choose a new COVID-Safe activity for now. There are examples on the Duke of Edinburgh’s National website (bottom of page) https://bit.ly/2U0lUJx
• The hikes are currently on hold due to the restrictions by the Department of Education, Health Authorities, SCEGGS itself and National Parks. Award Leaders can waive the requirement for a Bronze Practice Journey OR where a Practice has been previously completed, it can be counted as the Bronze Qualifying Journey. Here at SCEGGS, I will be interpreting this as follows: my preference will be, as always, for candidates to complete one Practice and one Qualifying Adventurous Journey, and this will be our ambition into the future, but given the current situation where we may be unable to conduct a full set of Qualifiers before the end of the year, this could be an option. Students may approach me individually to request this be implemented now if they have finished their other Bronze activities, are 15 years old and keen to commence their Silver activities during lockdown.

With our best regards,

Ms Joanne Bower & Mr Doric Swain
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Leaders