What to Do If Your Child Can't Make Their School's DofE Expedition Dates
Can't make your school's DofE expedition dates? An alternative DofE expedition with an Approved Activity Provider such as TrekCo could be the answer.
If your child's school has announced its Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition dates and they simply don't work, don't panic. Missing the school's expedition does not necessarily mean your child has to miss out on their DofE Award.
There is another option: completing the expedition with a DofE Approved Activity Provider (AAP).
Approved Activity Providers are organisations approved by The Duke of Edinburgh's Award to deliver DofE activities, including expeditions. One of the key benefits is that they can provide expeditions for individual participants and small groups who cannot complete their expedition through their school.
So, if your DofE expedition dates don't work, an AAP can provide a flexible alternative.
Why might you need an alternative DofE expedition?
There are many reasons why a school's DofE expedition dates might not work for your child.
Perhaps they clash with:
A family holiday
Another school commitment
Exams or revision
Important sporting events
Music, drama or other activities
Family commitments
Illness or another unforeseen circumstance
Another DofE commitment
Whatever the reason, you don't necessarily need to wait for the school to arrange another expedition.
An alternative DofE expedition with an Approved Activity Provider can give your child another opportunity to complete the expedition requirement.
Can my child do their DofE expedition with an Approved Activity Provider?
Yes.
An Approved Activity Provider can organise a DofE expedition for participants who aren't able to complete their expedition through their school.
This is particularly useful if your child is the only person in their school group who can't make the school's dates.
You don't need to find a whole group of school friends who are available on the same dates. AAPs can organise expeditions for individual participants and small groups, bringing together DofE participants from different schools and parts of the country.
This makes an AAP a particularly useful solution when school DofE expedition dates don't work.
Can my child do their Practice and Qualifying expeditions with an AAP?
Yes. Depending on what your child needs to complete, they can do their:
DofE Practice Expedition
DofE Qualifying Expedition
Both Practice and Qualifying Expeditions
with TrekCo.
This gives families much more flexibility than relying solely on the dates offered by the school. If the school expedition date isn't suitable, you can look for an alternative expedition with TrekCo instead.
Do I need to ask the school first?
If you are arranging the expedition through an TrekCo, you don't need to organise the expedition through the school.
TrekCo, as an AAP, manages the expedition itself and deals with the relevant DofE administration (eDofE).
Of course, it is sensible to keep your child's school or DofE Leader informed about their plans, particularly so everyone understands what they are completing. But the alternative expedition itself can be organised directly with TrekCo.
Who completes the DofE paperwork and eDofE requirements?
One of the biggest advantages of completing an expedition with an AAP is that we take care of the expedition administration.
We deal with the relevant DofE paperwork and eDofE requirements associated with the expedition.
This means parents don't have to try to work out how the alternative expedition should be organised or how all the DofE administration should be dealt with.
We make sure the expedition is properly organised and that the necessary DofE requirements are addressed.
What if my child needs a Practice Expedition?
If your child needs to complete their DofE Practice Expedition, training is incorporated into the expedition.
This is particularly helpful if they haven't been able to attend all of their school's preparation or training sessions.
Rather than expecting participants to arrive knowing everything they need to know, we provide the appropriate training as part of the Practice Expedition.
The expedition therefore provides both the practical training and the opportunity to put those skills into practice.
How does an AAP expedition work if the participants don't know each other?
This is an important difference between a school expedition and an AAP expedition.
On a school expedition, participants will normally have been training together for weeks or months. They know their team members and will often have planned their route and campsites together.
An AAP expedition works differently.
Participants may come from different schools and different parts of the UK, and they may not have met before the expedition.
Consequently, the routes and campsites are planned differently. Participants don't have to meet beforehand to organise their expedition themselves.
We organise the expedition arrangements so that individual participants and small groups can join the expedition without already knowing everyone else in their team.
The participants then work together as a team during the expedition, developing exactly the sort of teamwork and independence that the DofE expedition is designed to encourage.
Can my child do any DofE expedition with an AAP?
Yes. If your child needs an alternative to their school's expedition, they can complete their expedition with us rather than having to wait for another school date.
They aren't restricted to doing the same expedition as their school.
Whether they need a Practice Expedition, Qualifying Expedition or both, we can provide an expedition that meets their DofE requirements.
This is one of the main reasons that using an Approved Activity Provider can be such a useful solution when school expedition dates don't work.
What if we don't have all the DofE equipment?
Don't let a lack of equipment stop your child from doing an alternative DofE expedition.
Buying all the equipment needed for a DofE expedition can be expensive, particularly if your child isn't likely to use it regularly afterwards.
We therefore offer free loan of essential expedition equipment, including:
Waterproof jacket and trousers
Sleeping bag
DofE rucksack
This means you don't necessarily have to spend hundreds of pounds buying equipment simply because your child's school expedition dates don't work.
An alternative DofE expedition can be much more flexible
For many families, using an Approved Activity Provider is a straightforward solution to a problem that initially seems quite difficult.
Instead of thinking:
“My child can't make the school's DofE expedition, so what can we do?”
think:
“Let's find an alternative DofE expedition with an Approved Activity Provider.”
An AAP can provide the expedition, organise the routes and campsites, deal with the relevant administration and, where required, provide training as part of a Practice Expedition.
And because AAP expeditions are designed to accommodate participants from different schools and locations, your child doesn't need to find a group of school friends who can all attend on the same dates.
Looking for an alternative DofE expedition?
If your child's DofE expedition dates don't work, we can help.
We provide DofE expeditions for individual participants and small groups, including participants who are unable to attend their school's expedition.
Your child can complete their Practice Expedition, Qualifying Expedition or both with us.
We organise the expedition, deal with the relevant DofE administration and provide training where required. We can also provide free loan of waterproofs, sleeping bags and rucksacks if your child doesn't have the necessary equipment.
Don't let unsuitable school dates stop your child completing their DofE expedition. Contact us on 01273 487509 or info@trekco.com to find out about our alternative DofE expedition dates and see how we can help.
