Sir James Henderson operates the International Award (‘Duke of Edinburgh’) scheme to provide students with opportunities for self-development during the academic year. Over the years many pupils have been involved with the award at SJHS and they have gained much in terms of commitment, leadership, teamwork, achievement and enjoyment. The International Award is a valuable extra-curricular activity, one that is highly regarded by Universities and Colleges and is a welcome addition to a student’s Curriculum Vitae.
History
The Duke of Edinburgh award program was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1956 as a means to encourage and motivate young people of 14 years old and above to become involved in a balanced program of voluntary self-development activities. The Sir James Henderson School is an independent operator coordinating ‘The International Award’ through an afterschool club. There are TWO Bronze Award clubs: one for current year nines and one for current year tens, with places limited to approximately twelve in each club. Students who have already achieved the Bronze have progressed to the Silver award and attend a periodic lunchtime or afterschool session.The Award Declaration and Its Significance
“The award concept is one of individual challenge. The award offers young people the opportunity to set a personal goal and achieve it. It is also about providing the opportunity to accept a challenge. It presents to young people a balanced, non-competitive programme of voluntary activities which encourages personal discovery and growth, self-reliance, perseverance, responsibility to themselves, trust and service to their community.” As such, at higher level it ties in with IB CAS assessment. For Year 10 to 13 students it can provide a chance to fulfil their Creativity, Action, Service obligations and get extra accreditation.The Bronze Award
The Bronze Award consists of four sections:Aim: To learn how to give useful service to others.
In the past students have worked in the School nursery at lunchtimes, acted as teachers on the Sports Leadership Awards, tutored or mentored younger students one-to-one, or done conservation and other charity work on weekends. There will be more out-of-school opportunities in 2008-09 as the IB program swings into action.
Aim: To encourage the development of personal interests and practical skills.
Many students use their extracurricular musical activities as evidence of them learning a new skill for this section of the Award. The skills learnt can be anything from learning to play chess or a language to developing cookery or photography skills.
Aim: To encourage participants in physical recreation and improvement of performance.
This section will be completed on an individual basis by the participants involved. Each student needs to take part regularly in a sport, such as football or tennis outside school hours. Any adult can act as an assessor but must have supervised the students development each week during the year.
Aim: To encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery.
All new participants will undertake Basic Expedition Training which will give them the tools to be able to plan and participate in a weekend expedition. The expedition section will involve learning about camp craft, cooking, navigation, map reading, equipment, survival skills, route planning, food, safety requirements, country code, and weather. Training for this will take place both in the class room and in the country/mountainside. All new participants will undertake an 11 week First Aid course in order to fulfil the requirements of the service section. The course will cover basic first aid, emergency procedures and those required whilst on expedition. At the end of the course pupils will be tested both on the theoretical and practical aspects of First Aid.
Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions 2008-2009:
Students will be admitted on a first-come first-serve basis. Parents must then also sign their children up for the after-school session on the general clubs application form at the start of the Autumn Term.
The first hiking trip to the Lake Como area on the weekend of October 4th – 5th was very successful. It included important training sessions for those involved in the award. It was both fun and we saw students orienteering skills and team work growing in leaps and bounds! If you require more information on The International Award, please do not hesitate to contact us at school.
Mr Clements / Mr Gorst, Bronze/Silver International Award Leaders
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