Fitzroy High School


Telephone: 9488 1900 • Fax: 9481 6135 • info@fitzroyhs.vic.edu.au • Falconer Street NORTH FITZROY 3068
Sapphire Indigo Jet Scarlet Post-compulsory

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a program to assist young Victorians, aged between 14 and 25, to reach their full potential in a structured program of non-competitive voluntary activities, which encourages personal growth, enterprise and a broad range of life skills, as well as a sense of social awareness and responsibility.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award comprises 3 Levels, each demanding a different amount of effort and commitment. At the successful completion of each level, participants receive a certificate and badge that are recognised in over 100 countries around the world, as recognition for their efforts. The Sections are designed to complement each other and provide a balanced program.

For each of these levels, participants are required to undertake one activity in each of the following sections:

1. Service
The aim of this section is to learn how to give useful service to others. It seeks to give participants a sense of responsibility to each other and the community, and to help them become better citizens. Participants should undertake an activity in which they give service to others, and should learn and benefit from undertaking this service.

Examples of service include working with people in the community on a regular basis, working with community education and health education groups, participating in a conservation project, fundraising for a charity.

2. Adventurous Journey
The aim of this section is to encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery whilst undertaking a journey in a group. It seeks to provide participants with a unique, challenging and memorable experience. The journey, with an agreed purpose, should be undertaken in a small team in an unfamiliar environment, requiring determination, physical effort, self-reliance and cooperation to complete.

At Bronze level, the journey must be at least 2 days and 1 night. Participants undertake appropriate training and practice. Journeys are unaccompanied, although supervised and assessed by experienced adults and can take place on land or water. The team can travel by their own efforts, by animal or by other non-motorised assistance. Accommodation should be in portable tents or other simple self-catering accommodation.

3. Skills
This section aims to encourage the development of personal interests and practical skills. It should stimulate new interests or improve existing ones. These interests are typically of a non-physically demanding nature and may be hobbies, vocational or job-related skills, social or individual activities, cultural activities or life skills. Participants should be encouraged to interact with people who are experienced in the activity and so can share their enthusiasm and knowledge.

The chosen skill can be one that the young person is studying at their regular educational institution or their workplace. However, they must be able to show additional voluntary effort in their own time to enhance what they would have been doing anyway. Examples include playing a musical instrument, sports officiating, crafts activities, artistic pursuits, life and vocational skills, communication or performance skills.

4. Physical recreation
This section aims to encourage participation in physical recreation and improvement in physical fitness and performance. It should encourage participants to improve their personal physical fitness and performance through training and perseverance in their chosen activity.

Participants should choose a physical activity that interests them and in which they can show improvement over a sustained period of time. It may be an activity that they do on their own or as part of a team. In the case of a team sport, it is the individual participant’s personal effort and commitment that counts.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award does not set standards, but it should be a challenge to the given individual. The participant should be encouraged to set their own personal goals beyond the minimum requirement.

For further information visit http://www.dukeofed.org.au/Vic.htm

Telephone: 9488 1900 • Fax: 9481 6135 • info@fitzroyhs.vic.edu.au • Falconer Street NORTH FITZROY 3068