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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Making your choices

It’s time to decide on what you want to achieve. Make your choices for your Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) challenge and set yourself some targets
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You’ll need

  • A4 paper
  • Pens or pencils
  • Access to a computer or device with internet connection (optional)
  • Access to your eDofE account (optional)

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • If everyone is having the opportunity to log into their eDofE account to input their choices, make sure the devices are set up and ready to use.

Choose your path

  1. Ask everyone to take a piece of paper and a pen.
  2. Explain that this is an opportunity to think about and decide what they would like to do and achieve in the four areas of the DofE challenge. It is five areas if they are completing their Gold award.
  1. Have a chat about setting targets and explain why it is important to carefully sit and plan them.
  1. When everyone is happy with what they need to do, give everyone 15 minutes to make their choices and set targets for what they would like to achieve.
  1. If there is the opportunity to input their agreed choices onto their eDofE accounts, then give everyone the time to be able to do this. If not, remind everyone to do this as soon as they are able to.

Reflection

Making your choices can be challenging, as you need to not only choose something you are interested in, but make sure it is achievable. It can be done to your own time frame and there is a target you are working towards.

How did it feel making them choices? Were any choices easier than others? Try to think about if you already take part in a craft activity or hobby that you could develop and use as your skill.

You had to set yourself a target that you wanted to achieve by the end. Why is it important to set these targets? Do you think you will be able to achieve them all? Think about how it gives you something to work towards and something to strive for. Remember, you can always talk to your DofE leader for any support you need.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Online safety

Supervise young people when they’re online and give them advice about staying safe. Take a look at our online safety or bullying guidance. The NSPCC offers more advice and guidance, too. If you want to know more about specific social networks and games, Childnet has information and safety tips for apps. You can also report anything that’s worried you online to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command. As always, if you’ve got concerns about a young person’s welfare, including their online experiences, follow the Yellow Card to make a report.

If someone needs support in setting the targets, writing down their ideas or inputting their choices into the eDofE platform then give them the opportunity to work with someone else to help them where needed.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.