Duke of Edinburgh International Award
The International School of Florence (ISF) is a licensed Independent Award Centre for the Duke of Edinburgh International Award (DofE). As such, students in Grade 9 and Grade 10 have an opportunity to be involved in this globally recognised award.
The DofE provides a wonderful opportunity for ISF students to broaden their horizons, discover new interests and talents, have fun with friends, develop essential skills for their future and achieve an Internationally renowned Award.
The DofE is non-competitive and open to all young people – it's about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries. There are three levels of DofE programme which, when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.
Through their DofE, students will make friends and memories and build traits like confidence, resilience and self-esteem, which can benefit mental health. They’ll gain skills and attributes for work and life, like problem-solving, team-working and self-motivation – and they’ll achieve an Award that’s recognised Internationally and can help them stand out when applying for university or later employment.
To achieve their Bronze Award, participants must complete Four sections: Skills, Volunteering, Physical and their Expedition.
Every young person’s DofE programme is personal to them – they can choose what they’d like to do for their Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections, and most activities that they may already be involved in can count. We will provide guidance and support, and students can either choose to continue an activity they already do or discover something completely new.
Activities for each section take a minimum of one hour a week over a set period of time, so they can fit around studying, hobbies and social lives. For more details about programmes and timescales you can also visit DofE.org/do.
The Expedition section of the DofE Award involves ISF students working as part of a small team to plan their expedition’s aim, choose a location and complete some training to ensure they're fully prepared – before spending one night in the countryside.
Ahead of this, those involved in the DofE will take part in additional specific training that will cover, for example, basic expedition principles and introducing them to expedition equipment. This training typically occurs on a Saturday during the last third of the school year. There are also a small number of training sessions after school at ISF in which students and their group will plan their route and prepare.
For more information please contact Bruce Baddeley at b.baddeley@isfitaly.org
Current Program
Independent Award Centre Licence
Licence Number: 417/IAC/BL/GBT
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.