In June 2022 we received an update and certificate from the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, advising us of the contribution our pupils have made to their communities, and wider society, as a result of their Volunteering activities.

For example, participants from Cirencester Deer Park School dedicated 260 hours to volunteering between April 2021 and March 2022, with a social value of £1201.20. 

This recognition not only reinforces the important life skills and benevolent qualities our pupils are acquiring and developing, through their Volunteering efforts, but also the valuable input and support our young people are providing, to individuals, small organisations and large charitable foundations. The impact of this is felt not only locally, but also nationally, and in some cases, internationally.

The DofE Bronze Award continues to be extremely popular at Deer Park. 70 of our (new) Year 10 pupils recently undertook two days of training and practise expedition (read more...) in preparation for their Expedition in September.

Response and sign-up to the award scheme is always rapid, but more importantly, our conversion rate of pupils successfully completing the programme is also regularly very high. Prior to the pandemic we were annually seeing a pass/completion rate above 90%; even during the pandemic this figure remained significantly above the national average. Our Class of 2022, whose experience was particularly compromised, and whose qualifying Expedition (read more...) had to be heavily amended, while other centres simply cancelled theirs, still managed to register a pass/completion rate close to 50%.

We are fortunate to have a small committed team of staff, who willingly volunteer their time and expertise to help facilitate an enjoyable and successful experience for all our participants, whilst our well established working relationship with No Limits Development provides our pupils with experienced expedition training, guidance and leadership.

Mr Reed, DofE Manager, comments 'I'm confident that this combination of pupil engagement, staff commitment and external expert knowledge will continue to provide a platform for our pupils to thrive and succeed within the DofE system!'