April 2nd 2013

Ou est le mail out? 

Bonjour! Ca va? London team members Kirsty and Jo are raising sponsorship to help disadvantaged young people take part in the DofE by cycling from London to Paris this May. If you would like to sponsor them in their endeavours to help make sure the reach of the DofE is extended as widely as possible across the capital, please do so via their JustGiving pages here: 
http://www.justgiving.com/KirstyYoung90 (Kirsty) 
and here: http://www.justgiving.com/jomarieamand (Jo). 

Ça plane pour moi!

Oh, and don't forget to return the quiz at the bottom to Jack.Kirby@DofE.org for another exciting prize!

Let's get statistical 

As that time of year approaches please make sure all your Awards awaiting approval are signed off and any new participants are created on eDofE prior to 31st March 2013 (Sunday).  Awards approved and new starts allocated after this date will not be counted in this reporting year.  It is imperative that we capture the correct figures for work carried out in this year to help us to better understand the support needed for our network and direct our resources to best effect. Details on the Annual Statistical return will be sent to DofE Managers in the coming weeks. Awards submitted for approval after April 19th will be signed off by your Award Verifier.

Open Residential 

All Gold Award participants are welcome to apply for our open residential to the Gambia in the October half term. It will involve cultural exploration, purposeful work and volunteering with schools. The residential will cost £1150.00 per person all included except lunch costs and drinks. To book or for more information please contact Kirsty.Young@DofE.org and please distribute this flyer to your participants.  

Participants seeking expeditions 

Two male participants in Sutton require a Bronze practice expedition to run April, May or early June. They will have completed their expedition training before going on the practice. Please contact  Sarah.Alderman@sutton.gov.uk if you can assist. 

A female participant from St Gregory's Catholic Science College requires a Silver practice prior to her assessed expedition in July. Please contact her leader Neil Rossiter at  nrossitersgs@gmail.com if you can assist.

Everest event 

The RGS and the Himalayan Trust are celebrating the 60 year anniversary of the first ascent of Everest with a special talk on Wednesday May 29th. The theme is Lasting Legacy which the DofE is a part of - the expedition team Leader went on to set up the DofE Charity. Trustees Debra Searle and David Hempleman-Adams are both speaking. Please see here for further info.

Jobs

The latest vacancies with the DofE are online  at http://www.latestvacancies.com/DofE/ and lately include an Events Co-ordinator and Partnerships Manager positions both in London and an Operations Officer position in the South East Region.

Available training

DofE London is offering lots of training including Expedition Assessors Accreditation Scheme, Introduction to the DofE for Leaders, BEL Level 3 Assessment Course and Expedition Supervisors Training. See here for full details and how to book. 

Please be aware the London Regional Office are not offering BEL Training Courses. 

eDofE Training

Kirsty will be running free beginners eDofE training for those with little to no experience of eDofE approximately every six weeks on the following dates:

* 1st May (PM)
* 17th May (AM)
* 11th June (PM)
* 29th July (PM)
* 11th September (PM)

Jack will be running free intermediate eDofE training for those with some experience of using the system but would like a refresher every ten weeks on the following dates:

* 26th April (PM)
* 26th June (PM)
* 4th September (PM)

Attendees' names and email addresses should be sent to the appropriate
tutor at either Kirsty.Young@DofE.org or Jack.Kirby@DofE.org.

Quiz! 

1. Who is cycling to Paris to raise money for disadvantaged participants?
2. From which school is the Silver participant who is seeking a practice
Expedition?
3. Which regional office is seeking to employ an Operations Officer?

Until next time! 

We Built this Mail Out on Rock and Roll...

Welcome to your latest DofE London Mail Out, the best Mail Out provided by the DofE in the whole of London. As ever, please read carefully and send anything for inclusion next time to Jack.Kirby@DofE.org. Due to the success of the previous edition’s competition, we will once again be offering an amusing prize for those who answer the questions at the end of this message.

Plotr

We are pleased to announce that we have teamed up with www.Plotr.co.uk, a new website that highlight opportunities for young people and is full of great advice for gaining employment. Do check it out when you can. If you have any job opportunities, internships, training, special events or similar please email Jack.Kirby@DofE.org to get them promoted to Plotr users. We will be promoting access to open award centres and our various youth engagement platforms on the site.

iPhone Competition 

Our iPhone competition was won by Hadi Arran of Wandsworth. You can see his winning entry  on our Facebook page.

Expedition Information

We’ve been asked to make you aware of some changes in the New Forest.

•           Drop Cards (information left by participants to notify staff of their progress) are now banned in the New Forest by the Forestry Commission, please use alternative supervision methods

•           Wild camp sites now incur a charge of £10 per team and still need to be booked in advance with the Forestry Commission

•           Due to flooding and wet conditions it is very important to stick to paths and check routes in advance

•           Impact on environment and safety is increased when crossing open areas in these conditions

•           Remember participants getting into a vehicle to ‘get round a wet bit’ are not fulfilling the first of the 20 conditions!

For more information or to book an assessor or wild camp site please visit either:

http://newforestean.org.uk/ New Forest Expedition Assessor Network

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newforest Forestry Commission Website

Plan ahead and prepare for any expedition area by contacting the Assessor Network, details here: www.dofe.org/expeditionareas

London Volunteers Orientation Weekend

We have 5 spaces free for the March 9th – March 10th event. You must be nominated by your DofE Manager to attend this event. Find a nomination form here. The event will take place at the Park Inn, Harlow and is free; all accommodation and catering included.

Please note that there are no more spaces available on the June weekend.

Conference Reminder

All DofE Managers need to get their booking forms into Kirsty.Young@DofE.org asap. A reminder of dates:

18th March – DLC State and Academy Schools

19th March – DLC Independent Schools

23rd – 24th April – Local Authority Managers

Training

We have the following training courses coming up…

EAAS, Wednesday 20th March 2013, £130, Award House, 7-11 St Matthew Street

ESTC, Thursday 11th April 2013, £135, Award House, 7-11 St Matthew Street

IttDofE, Thursday 9th May 2013, £95, Award House, 7-11 St Matthew Street

Please go to our website for details of how to book onto one of these courses.

eDofE Training

Kirsty will be running free beginners eDofE training for those with little to no experience of eDofE approximately every six weeks on the following dates:

•           28th March

•           1st May

•           11th June

•           29th July

•           11th September

Jack will be running free intermediate eDofE training for those with some experience of using the system but would like a refresher every ten weeks on the following dates:

•           26th April

•           26th June

•           4th September

Attendees’ names and email addresses should be sent to the appropriate tutor at either Kirsty.Young@DofE.org or Jack.Kirby@DofE.org.

Stats

A reminder to all DofE Managers stats returns will be due in the near future. Once we received the questionnaire from Head Office, Peter Fleet will be providing more information on what we need from you.

eDofE Award Verifier Role

As mentioned at the DofE Managers conferences, written about in the DofE Magazine and mentioned in previous mail outs, the Award Verifier Role is coming to eDofE on 19th April 2013. You can find out more about the role here. Please contact Mat or Jo if you have any questions.

 Jobs

The Northern Ireland office are currently seeking a new Operations Officer and a new Administrative Assistant. Please click here for more info.

 …And Finally

If you can answer the following questions, email them to Jack.Kirby@DofE.org to receive an amusing prize!

1.         What are now banned in the New Forest?

2.         When is the next ESTC course?

3.         When is the Award Verifier role being brought in?

Until next time!

30th January 2013

Holy mail out, Batman!
Welcome to your second mail out of the year. As usual, please email any updates for the network to Jack.Kirby@DofE.org. We’ve incentivised reading the entirety of this missive – please see the final paragraph for more details!

Annual review
We are preparing our Annual Review which will highlight the breadth and quality of programme delivery across the capital in this reporting year.  If you have any projects or activities from your Licensed Organisation that you would like to highlight for this publication, or can name one good DofE thing that has happened in the last year, please email it to Keighley.Jensen@DofE.org.

eDofE training
Kirsty will be running free beginners eDofE training for those with little to no experience of eDofE approximately every six weeks on the following dates:

• 13^th February
• 28^th March
• 1^st May
• 11^th June
• 29^th July
• 11^th September

Jack will be running free intermediate eDofE training for those with some experience of using the system but would like a refresher every ten weeks on the following dates:

• 12^th February
• 26^th April
• 26^th June
• 4^th September

All sessions will run from 1pm and be finished no later than 5pm. As usual they will take place at the Regional Office. If you wish to send a Leader for training, please email their names and email addresses to the relevant trainer: Kirsty.Young@DofE.org orJack.Kirby@DofE.org.

iPhone competition
There’s still plenty of time for Leaders and participants to enter our iPhone competition. See our Facebook page for full details. You can also download A3 and A4 posters to advertise this to your groups.

Expedition volunteers orientation weekend
There is still time for DofE Managers to nominate new volunteer Leaders to attend a free weekend of learning the DofE ropes. Please see www.DofE.org/London for further information and download a nomination form here.

Job vacancies
There are currently two roles available at the DofE, both based in Windsor, an IT support assistant and an Operations Manager. Please see here for full details and how to apply.

Expedition volunteers required
Croydon High School need some volunteers help with a practice expedition in East Grinstead, Ashdown Forest, 27^th April 2013. This is a good opportunity to make up some hours if you are undergoing BEL training. Please contact Donovan Smith if you are able to help at D.Smith@CRY.GDST.NET.  

DofE centre certificate now available
An electronic template of the Centre Certificate has been produced and is available to download from the Resource Zone on eDofe. This will allow DofE Managers to generate Centre Certificates for schools and groups using the certificate paper available from ASL.

The DofE Virtual Centre (DVC) is nearly here
On 22^nd February, we will be launching the DofE Virtual Centre. This will be a facility for young people aged 18+ who are unable for whatever reason to participate in a local DofE centre to enrol online and participate in the Programme with the support of the London Regional Office. Please sign post any young people you do not have the capacity to support to this opportunity. Further information and promotional material will be forthcoming.

And finally…
You’ve reached the end of the mail out. If you can answer these questions three and send them to Jack.Kirby@DofE.org, you will receive an amusing prize!

1. Who is delivering eDofE training for beginners?
2. Which school requires volunteers for their practice Expedition?
3. On what date does the DVC launch?

Good luck!

10th January 2013

Happy New Mail Out

Happy New Year to you all. We hope you had an enjoyable and restful break over the festive period. Just a quick mail out with some interesting info. Expect your usual bumper size mail out in the near future.

Last Chance for the Multi Faith Residential!

We are looking for DofE Leaders from a range of faiths and communities to take part in a FREE two day residential consultation. This consultation will explore how to promote leadership from under-represented communities, how to ensure DofE programmes remain relevant to young people from diverse backgrounds and how to engage them. See the flier here.

Date Sunday 20th - Monday 21st January 2013

Location Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire, EN7 5HW

Food and accommodation will be provided.

For more information or to register your interest, please contact Hayley Shenholds on

020 7227 9820 or at Hayley.Shenholds@DofE.org.

Expedition Leaders Network Event

An opportunity for new and experienced expedition Leaders to learn and share ideas.

This event will explore sharing of delivery methods, environmental concerns, identifying Expedition purpose, campsite selection, equipment selection, sharing resources, expedition food and a chance to get out on the hills for a few hours and try out a climbing wall.

Date Friday 22nd - Monday 25th March 2013

Location Trewern Outdoor Education Centre Herefordshire, HR3 5RF

Cost £200

Food, accommodation and travel from Central London are included.

A coach will pick up delegates from Central London at 9.00am on Friday and drop off delegates in Central London at 2pm on Monday. To attend this event please complete a booking form and return to Kirsty Young at Kirsty.Young@DofE. Flier available here.

Countryside Leader Award

There is CLA course taking place on 2^nd February and 18^th-19^th February. Closing date for bookings is 24^th January. Please see this document for more information.

Job Vacancies

The London Borough of Camden were part of a successful bid to increase participation in sports and outdoor education to young people with disabilities and are advertising for a senior worker/coordinator. The DofE will be a key part of the programme. Please see job description, person specification and application at this website. Deadline for applicants is 28^th January.

Please also see here for details of a part time Expedition Network Co-ordinator in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Deadline for applicants is 24^th January.

Conference Dates Reminder!

Conference dates for Licenced Organisations are as follows:

Monday 18th March – State Secondary Schools and Academy Directly Licensed Centres

Tuesday 19th March – Independent School Directly Licensed Centres 

23rd and 24th April – Local Authority Operating Authorities

Finally…

Don’t forget to enter out fantastic iPhone competition!

Looking forward to seeing you all in the new year!

Win an iPhone 4S!

7th December 2012

Mail Out Time, Mistletoe and Wine

Welcome to a festive edition of your favourite network update. From now on, all our mail outs will be archived on our swish new blog: http://dofelondonmailout.blogspot.co.uk/. Any feedback on how to improve this site will be welcomed. As usual, please send us any info you want sharing with the wider network and we will include it in the next mail out. Please also note that we will now be sharing our updates with our wider contact list, which includes anyone who signs up to updates via our website.

This is the last from us until the New Year so may I take this opportunity to wish you season’s greetings and all the best for 2013.  Please read on for lots of useful information, opportunities, updates and events. 

London Region Office closure

Please note that the regional office will close at 5pm on Friday 21^st December and reopen on Wednesday 2^nd January at 9am. 

Support our Troops!

London Region staff members Kirsty and Jo are taking part in the London to Paris bike ride in May to raise money for DofE participants with additional support needs and who may be disadvantaged. You can find out more about the bike ride and how to sponsor out brave staff members by emailing them at Jo.Amand@DofE.org or Kirsty.Young@DofE.org. Kirsty’s JustGiving page can be found here and Jo’s is here. Dig deep people!

Win an iPhone

Keep an “i” on our Facebook page – we will soon be launching an exciting competition in which you can win an iPhone 4S. Siri-ously!

Vacancies

·         DofE Coordinator (Maternity Cover) HAFAD, Hammersmith and Fulham. The deadline for applications is Monday 10^th December. Please see here for a full job description and how to apply.  

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

·         Operations Officer, South West. The deadline for applications is Monday 17^th December 2012 at 12 noon. First interviews will take place on Wednesday 9^th January 2013 and second interviews will take place on Thursday 17^th January 2013 at the South West Regional Office.

·         Part Time Administration Assistant, South West. The deadline for applications is Monday 17^th December 2012 at 12 noon. First interviews will take place on Thursday 10^th January 2013 at the South West Regional Office.

To apply for either position, please email your CV along with a detailed statement which outlines your suitability for the position to Julie.Cooper@DofE.org. 

EAAS

From today onwards we will no longer accept partially completed EAAS applications.  Applications should include a fully completed EAAS form with all signatures and endorsements, photo image and all required pre-course learning papers.  We will shortly be returning incomplete papers to assessors pending accreditation so that this can be resolved by the individual. 

Please be aware that as the Expedition season has closed that the processing of EAAS forms is on standby for the time being and will reconvene at the end of January. Please be sure to inform any leaders in your network who are undergoing the accreditation process.  

Expeditions Required

The London Borough of Sutton has a new co-ordinator who is looking to refresh her experience working with and leading groups at Bronze level.  Steph has undergone her BEL training and has spent weekends out walking with groups around the country and would like to join an expedition or day walk as a volunteer to boost her experience. Please contact Sarah Alderman at Sarah.Alderman@sutton.gov.uk or on 020 8404 1989.

Two participants from Sutton also seek qualifying Expeditions, one Bronze and one Silver. If there are any available Expeditions early next season that either participant could join, please contact Sarah with the above details.

AAPs

Please be aware that the following organisations are no longer licensed as AAPs.

·         Atlantic Whale Foundation (residential)

·         Creative International Adventures (expedition)

·         Isis Canoe Club (expedition)

·         Purple Mountain (expedition)

·         Walk Rock (expedition)

Litter L

The Lee Parish Council would like to bring to your attention the large amount of litter being left around their area in The Chilterns by groups of young people allegedly involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. They have received a number of complaints about this from local people. If you have had any expeditions running in this area – or any other area – please make sure participants are properly trained on the Countryside Code and how to dispose of their waste.

Press Releases

If your group has been up to anything exciting that you would like to share with your local press, or even something that would attract the attention of regional or national press, please let us know and we can assist publicising this via our contacts and through our social media sites. Please email jack.kirby@dofe.org for further details.

Please enjoy your winter-holiday-break time and see you in 2013!

22nd November 2012

Who’s Got Mailout Fever?

We do! The half term break has caused a delay in your favourite internal update as many of the office staff took part in Residentials, but rest assured, the below information is as up to the minute and exciting as usual. You can find out more about the Residentials below. As ever, please email us with anything you want sharing with the rest of the London region and we’ll stick it in a future update.

Please note that with the busy half term, staff being away from the office and illness we have a bit of a backlog with regional admin.  Thank you for your patience whilst we get back up to speed with this. 

Peter Fleet – Commonwealth Youth Worker 2012

On Thursday 8^th, Peter was awarded Commonwealth Youth Worker 2012 by the National Youth Agency and the Commonwealth Secretariat in recognition of his work in London and overseas. Congratulations to Peter!  You can read all about it here

Digital Residential

Nine participants from across London took part in the Digital Residential in Brighton this half term, which was a great success and was positively received by participants. The group were met by several expert guest speakers and took part in filmmaking, interviewing and creating digital content. The event culminated in a flashmob on Brighton Pier which you can view here.

If you have participants you feel would enjoy a residential of this nature, please let us know and we can consider future events.  

New Leaders in Gambia

Also during half term New Leaders Programme participants went on their Residential to The Gambia and took part in cultural activities, school visits and youth work training. The group will now begin their youth work placements. You can view a photo gallery of their adventure on our Facebook page here.

EAAS

Now that the Expedition season has closed, please be aware that the processing of EAAS forms is on standby for the time being and will reconvene at the end of January. If you need to check if we have received any paperwork, please contact kirsty.young@dofe.org.

Press Releases

If your group has been up to anything exciting that you would like to share with your local press, or even something that would attract the attention of regional or national press, please let us know and we can assist publicising this via our contacts and through our social media sites. Please email jack.kirby@dofe.org for further details.

DofE Marketplace

The DofE Marketplace is now live http://www.dofe.org/go/marketplace/.

This is an area on the DofE shop, currently sited within the website, where we have negotiated great deals and discounts for participants and leaders, co-ordinators and managers. These discounts include those we already know about e.g. Cotswold or Ordnance Survey, but also include new brands that may be of interest to leaders, young people, their family and friends. There are a number of interesting offers on the site so please have a browse!

eDofE

It has come to our attention that a number of leaders are frustrated with the pop up confirmation box on eDofE (are you sure these details are correct? Etc). It’s possible to turn this off for all but the most important notifications. Go to My Settings from the yellow icon list on the left side of the screen and the option to disable them is in there.

Another gentle reminder that we only require GA7 forms for participants that either a) have no eDofE account or b) have been put through Achieved Offline. The majority of participants should now simply be approved online without paperwork.

Over the last few weeks we have had an increase in enquiries regarding allocating and using participation places. Please remember if you have not allocated places, they will appear under the ‘Licenced Organisation’. We’ve put a quick guide to allocating places on eDofE Resources.

When creating a participant account DofE Manager’s and LO Administrator accounts can use places directly from the LO (section 2). If Coordinators are creating accounts, the participation places must be allocated to a centre or group.

We have also had some further queries regarding the Expedition section. All young people must add their own Expedition Aim (the team aim) and Goal (this is what an individual wants to achieve personally). This will show a participant where they need to add the details. A guide on setting Expedition Aims is also available on the eDofE Resources.

Please be aware the young person should add their aim and goal AFTER you set the details on behalf of the group. If a young person adds it before, they will be allocated 2 qualifying ventures. You will not receive an alert as the young person will only save the changes, not submit them.

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

Training

All our available training is listed on our website at this location. This is often updated so please do keep an eye out for new opportunities.

The following opportunity is offered by our outdoor education consultant Alice Turner.

Countryside Leader Award

There will be a CLA course provided by Alice Turner on the following dates:

2, 18-19 Feb 2013          Lea Valley and Chilterns

Cost                             £175 per person + £35 registration fee

The assessment for this course will be as follows:

23-25 August 2013         Lea Valley and Epping Forest

Cost                             £175 per person

To book onto this course please visit http://www.countrysideleaderaward.org/course_dates/.

For more information on the CLA course please contact Alice on web@climbingcourse.co.uk.

eDofE Award Verifier Role

As mentioned at the DofE Managers conferences and written about in the DofE Magazine the Award Verifier Role is coming to eDofE on 19^th April 2013. You can find out more about the role here. Please contact Peter if you need any support in this matter or speak with your nominated regional contact.

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 on 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.   

Final Report of the Mayor's Education Inquiry

This report was launched on 19 October and the Mayor's response has accepted all its recommendations. The media release can be read here. Chapter 3 - 'Preparing young Londoners for life and work in a global city' - should be of particular interest. The report and other documents including the Mayor's response are available to read and download from the GLA website here. Any feedback or queries will be welcome via the Inquiry's email address: educationinquiry@london.gov.uk.

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 attached for details and with Leaders in your groups. If any Leaders are interested in attending, please contact Hayley.Shenholds@DofE.org.

Job Vacancies

DofE Richmond want a part time (3 hours per week) DofE leader, please see here for further details and how to apply – be quick, the closing date for applications is 23^rd November.

Livery Schools Link

The Livery Schools Link is a fund supported by the Livery Company Golf Days and monies from City fundraising is used to establish new DofE Groups at schools and centres in London.  We are pleased to provide the report for the Livery Schools Link 2011/12, which supported three schools from the Capital to set up the DofE. Click here to read the report.

London Regional Bursary

Please note that funding for the London Regional Bursary has come to an end for this financial year. We are working towards to providing more funds for the year 2013/14. We ask that you do not send in any bursary applications until we have confirmed further funds.

And finally…

Don’t forget to follow our Twitter and Facebook pages for all the latest titbits!