22nd October 2012

This mailout’s for you…

Here at Manager’s Mailout Towers, where each mailout is lovingly and individually handcrafted to provide you with the most important up to date and interesting information about the DofE in London, we love it when you send us stuff to include. It makes our hearts swell with pride. Please check over this bumper crop of info and send us anything you wish to be included in the next iteration. Don’t forget to cascade this email to your networks.

Due to popular demand, we are now hosting all documents relevant to the mailout on this webpage rather than as attachments. Relevant headings will link you directly to the documents.

2013 dates for DofE Manager’s diary

We are pleased to confirm the dates for our DofE managers’ meetings in the new year. These meetings will be hosted for LO’s from the same sectoral provision and are for the named DofE Manager only. For Licensed Organisations that do not fall into these specific categories we will advise of planned meetings in due course.

 

Monday 14^th January – Local Authority Operating Authorities

Wednesday 13^th March – State Secondary Schools and Academy Directly Licensed Centres

Thursday 14^th March – Independent School Directly Licensed Centres

23^rd and 24^th April – Local Authority Operating Authorities

Additional Needs

There is a new page on the DofE website designed to provide resources and support for groups working with young people who have additional needs. The webpage is located at http://www.dofe.org/go/additionalneeds.

Please check out the new pages for resources and ideas. If you have any resources to contribute, please send them through to webmaster@dofe.org.

Fantastic opportunity for participants!

Capital & Counties Properties, a valued supporting partner of the DofE, are offering a career day for DofE participants.  This will take place on Tuesday 6^th November, 9.00am to 12.30pm in Central London

They are inviting young people into the business to spend a morning with staff practising interview skills, helping create CVs and giving career advice.  The day is offered to individuals not in education, employment or training although can include those who are in the last years of education and preparing for the workplace.

If you have any participants that are aged 16-20 years old who would be interested in this fantastic opportunity please contact Jo on Jo.Amand@DofE.org for further information.

Climbing Courses

Sports England and Plas y Brenin (PYB) have launched some new indoor-outdoor climbing courses for young people from the London and South East area.  There are 6 courses being advertised - please see http://www.thebmc.co.uk/ready-to-rock-london for more information.  

There is also funding available to set up a youth climbing project for those from a disadvantaged background or those with special education needs. This is to include a twelve week one hour climbing session followed by a weekend trip away to PYB. If you are interested in learning more, contact Elizabeth Holley at elizabeth@thebmc.co.uk.

Volunteering Awards

If you know an amazing young volunteer who has made a real difference to your life or someone else’s, you can now nominate them for the V Inspired National Awards.  I know there are many DofE participants volunteering out there and it would be great if their hard work and effort.  Nominations are free and close on 2 November 2012. 

http://vinspired.com/about/vinspirednationalawards

Gold Approvals

A friendly reminder: please do not send Gold Forms (GA7s) to the office if a participant has completed their Award on eDofE. We only need paperwork for those who have completed using an old Record Book or those you have put through ‘Achieved Offline’. Sending in forms for those who have completed online can be confusing for the admin team and can cause errors, such as two badges being sent out for the same participant. Please don’t take advantage of this!

Countryside Leader Award

The Countryside Leader Award (CLA) is for adults who wish to lead walks and camping expeditions in non-remote, lowland countryside. This corresponds with the recommended DofE Bronze and Silver expedition terrain.

The award is designed for people who already have considerable experience working with young people.  There will be a CLA course provided by Alice Turner on the following dates:

18^th – 19^th  February 2013:          Lea Valley and Chilterns

Cost:                                        £175 per person + £35 registration fee

The assessment for this course will be:

23^rd – 25^th August 2013:              Lea Valley and Epping Forest

Cost:                                        £175 per person

To book onto this course please visit http://www.countrysideleaderaward.org/course_dates/ or for more information on the CLA course please contact Alice on web@climbingcourse.co.uk  

EAAS

Please ensure that delegates undergoing Expedition Assessor training are using the new EAAS delegate form, now including section E: safeguarding checks. Please download the form from the website by clicking the titled link.

Expeditions Required

There is a 14 year male participant from the London Borough of Barnet who has mild cerebral palsy, including mild learning difficulties and mild speech and language difficulties. He would like to attend a Bronze qualifying expedition with a slower paced group or those walking a shorter distance. He has completed a 5 mile walk of a practice expedition. If you have an expedition coming up and have space for this participant, please contact Hayley.Shenholds@DofE.org.

There is a 22 year old male participant from the London Borough of Wandsworth who is a wheelchair user and is in need of a Silver practice and qualifying Expedition. If you have one coming up and have space for one more person, please contact Mark Chapman on mchapman@wandsworth.gov.uk.

Residential Opportunity

Trewern Outdoor Centre are offering a Residential opportunity for Gold participants. Please see the titled link for further information.

Multi Faith Consultation for DofE Leaders

We are looking for Leaders from a range of faiths and communities to take part in a two day residential consultation. This residential will investigate how we can promote leadership from under-represented communities and ensure DofE programmes remain relevant to young people from diverse backgrounds.

The residential will take place Sunday 20^th – Monday 21^st January 2013 at Theobalds Park in Hertfordshire. Food and accommodation will be provided.
Please see the flyer by clicking the titled link above for details and to promote this to Leaders from your groups. If any Leaders are interested in attending, please contact Hayley.Shenholds@DofE.org.

Training Available

We are pleased to provide information on a range of courses being delivered by our Licensed Organisations as follows:

Introduction to the DofE for Leaders

Friday 16^th November 2012, 10am-4pm

York House, Twickenham

£30 (Richmond leaders), £50 external applicants.

Expedition Assessor Accreditation

Thursday 17^th January 2013, 1pm-6pm

Hampton School, Hampton

£30 (Richmond leaders), £50 external applicants

To attend either of these courses, please contact Rob Clark at Robert.Clark@Richmond.gov.uk.

REC Level 2 Emergency First Aid

9^th-10^th February 2013, 9:30pm-5pm

Somers Town Youth Club, Camden. £90 (Richmond leaders), £120 external applicants

Camden candidates should contact Dan Murray directly (Daniel.Murray@Camden.gov.uk). All other candidates please contact Robert.Clark@Richmond.gov.uk.

A full list of all courses offered by London Region Courses can be found on our web site here.  If you would like any further information or for booking details please contact Kirsty Young, Kirsty.Young@DofE.org    

Purchasing Participation Places

All participation places need to be ordered through the online shop (ASL). You can get to the shop either through www.DofE.org, or eDofE. A ‘How to’ sheet is available at the above link.

If a school does not have a credit agreement with ASL, places can still be ordered but these will not be dispatched until payment has been received. We would recommend contact ASL directly to check if you do have this agreement in place, and to check your eDofE account is permitted to order places. Please ensure when you contact ASL you have your eDofE ID number handy as this can be added on the same day!

Vacancies

Further details and job descriptions for the following roles can be viewed here: http://www.latestvacancies.com/DofE/

Administration Assistant (Maternity Cover), Central England.

Deadline for applications is Wednesday 24^th October 2012 at 12 noon.

First interviews will take place on Tuesday 30^th October 2012 at the Central England Regional Office.

Commercial Manager, Windsor.

Deadline for applications is Monday 29^th October 2012 at 12 noon.

First interviews will take place on Wednesday 7^th November 2012 and second interviews will take place on Thursday 15^th November 2012 in Windsor.

Part Time Operations & Development Officer (Tees Valley), North East Region.

Deadline for applications is Thursday 1^st November 2012 at 12 noon.

First interviews will take place on Thursday 8^th & Friday 9^th November 2012 and second interviews will take place on Friday 16^th November 2012 at the North East Regional Office.

Operations Officer (East Anglia), Central England.

Deadline for applications is Friday 2^nd November 2012 at 12 noon.

First interviews will take place on Monday 19^th & Tuesday 20^th November 2012 and second interviews will take place in the following week if required at the Central England Regional Office.

Operations Officer (West Midlands) Central England Region

The deadline for applications is Friday 2^nd November 2012 at 12 noon.

First interviews will take place on Monday 19^th & Tuesday 20^th November 2012 and second interviews will take place in the following week if required at the Central England Regional Office.

Please email CVs and covering letters to Julie.Cooper@DofE.org.

And Finally

Peter Fleet has been shortlisted as one of 4 finalist for the Youth Worker of the Year by the National Youth Agency. See here for more information. We’re all rooting for you Peter!