Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a non-competitive, internationally recognised program designed to encourage young people to develop positive skills and to try new challenges. It is open to all students. The minimum age to start the program is 14 and at Gretton, commences in Year 10.

You can follow programmes at three levels:

Bronze (aged 14+)

Silver (aged 15+)

Gold (aged 16+)

We enrol in September of Year 10 to allow students two years to complete the Bronze award.

What do you have to do?

You achieve an Award by completing a personal programme of activities in four sections:

Volunteering: undertaking service to individuals or the community or for a non-profit making organisation.

Physical: improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness activities.

Skills: developing practical and social skills and personal interests (not physical skills).

Expedition: planning, training for and completion of an adventurous journey in the UK. This is organised by the school and training takes place in advance of the expedition.

How do we adapt our award for our learners?

At Gretton, we offer the flexibility for our learners to change their chosen activity as often as they want. If they want to commit to an activity for the duration of the award, this is just as acceptable too. The learners also have one 45min lesson a week on their timetable, so every learner has the opportunity to complete the award, due to some learners not having the opportunity to outside of school to take part in their chosen activities.

We also work closely with our expedition partner Azarias, who offer a bespoke package in the lead up to the expedition, whereby they run 3 workshop mornings at their campsite, covering all of the outdoor skills required. This is then put into practice over 2 days and 1 night for the Yr11 learners at the end of the Bronze award.