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THE AWARD DUKE OF EDINBURGH

The Overseas School of Colombo introduced the Duke of Edinburgh International Award (DofE) for grades 9-12 in the 2018-19 school year. OSC is a licensed award center and an initial cohort of teachers have been trained as award leaders to initiate the program. The DofE program fits in closely with what OSC students already do and the Award helps to recognize these efforts in a way promotes promoting self-discovery and is helpful in the university admissions process.

The Duke of Edinburgh (DOE) is a program designed to encourage and recognize student participation in extracurricular activities. This year we are going to be introducing the DofE’s Bronze Award for Grades 9-12 and in subsequent years we plan to offer the more demanding Silver and Gold awards. Students need to demonstrate engagement in four segments:

  • Physical Recreation
  • Skills
  • Service
  • Adventurous Journey
     

There is an obvious close association with the IB Diploma a Creativity Activity and Service program. Some of the DOE segments will be addressed in other After School Activities (SAISA sports for example) and in OSC’s robust service program. The adventurous journey will be addressed on two designated weekend trips. The practice adventurous journey is planned for the beginning of December and the final adventurous journey booked for mid-March, 2019. In the 2019-20 school year we plan to offer the Silver Award alongside the Bronze Award.
Last year the student outdoor activity group Off the Grid trialed several weekend activities in preparation for OSC formally adopting the Duke of Edinburgh program. There was great interest from OSC students in the approach of getting outdoors and engaging in service to help balance other demands on their time. We believe that Duke of Edinburgh International Award program will help recognize the amazing array of extracurricular activities that OSC students are already engaged in. Keep an eye out for further developments.