Various groups of WGHS students were about to embark on the following journeys over the next few weeks:
- Bronze qualifying journey to Rangitoto/Motutapu with our provider Adventure Works.
- Bronze training and practice to Mahurangi Regional Park.
- Silver training and practice journey to Crosbies Hut and the Pinnacles.
With these put on hold for the time being, here are some tips on how you can continue to work towards the Award from home.
During these uncertain times, it’s important for you to stay engaged, active and healthy in a safe and positive way and the Duke of Ed Award is a great way of doing so.
Some of the activities you have working on may be affected by Covod-19 restrictions so here are some suggestions for creative ways to continue Award activities, whilst providing enough evidence to Assessors and Award Leaders to continue progressing goals.
Skills
Progress towards your Skills section is something that can easily be done from home. If you are learning a musical instrument, a new language, cooking new recipes, designing software or creating art, chances are you have all the tools you need at home to continue working towards your goal. If you can, get in contact with your Assessor to help you find some activities that can be done from home, or alternatively you can look online to find tutorials to help continue your progress towards that skill. Once you have found some suitable activities that can be done at home, be sure to take lots of photos or videos of the activity so that you can show your Assessor the progress you have made. You can upload these photos or videos directly to the Online Record Book (ORB) when making your weekly logs.
Physical Recreation
This section is about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and it is very important to keep this up. Being physically active gives us ‘happy endorphins’ and these positive emotions are important to our overall well-being. If you were involved in a sport that has been affected there are many ways to still develop your fitness for that sport by doing your own home workouts or more specific targeted exercise programmes that can be done to develop strength, coordination, reflexes, flexibility or endurance. Get in contact with your Assessor to get some ideas, or you can look online to find limitless ideas/apps for home workout sessions. It’s important to show evidence of your progress to your Assessor, so be sure to upload any photos, videos or workout plans to your ORB weekly logs.
Voluntary Service
The Voluntary Service section may seem the most difficult to complete remotely, especially now that you can no longer visit the particular location where you were doing your service work. Brainstorm activities that can be done at home to continue contributing to your work in this area – online research, creating brochures for raising awareness, posting helpful things online for the community, posting training ideas for kids if you were coaching a team, creating activities for children to do at home if you were helping in childcare locations – these can all be activities that can work. . Talk to your Assessor to see if they like your ideas or if they have any suggestions or can support you in finding new creative ideas. Alternatively – put a hold on this section of the award for the time being.
Changing section activities
Whilst the ‘ideal’ situation for a young person progressing through the Award remains that they pick an activity and stick it out for the time requirements for the relevant level, the COVID-19 outbreak is a good example where pragmatic and practical solutions should apply.
I encourage you to email me (Mrs Cleaver) to discuss the appropriateness of changing activities should you need to in order to keep challenging yourself and remain active in the Award. My email is [email protected]