UKH

Calling all D of E leaders.

I've just started as a D of E Leader at a brand new award centre and just looking for advice regarding expedition training. I've been on the D of E website and seen the areas that need to be covered prior to exped (navigation, map skills, campcraft etc). Are there set lessons plans to each subject or is it up to the individual leader to create - I don't want to reinvent the wheel if the information is already out there. I'm more than happy to cover the subjects as it is but need to know if there is a set syllabus. The groups are Bronze and Silver level.

Many thanks

Mal

In reply to Malpractise:

There are set items that need to be taught, however, you can do it in relation to the speed of learning for the group. I've taken the same syllabus and taught it to varying groups.

I assume you've looked here... http://www.dofe.org/en/content/cms/doing-your-dofe/activities-sections/expe...

In reply to Tony the Blade: Yeah, I've trawled the website - loads of good info but nothing about lesson plans etc. They do run courses mind, but theres none in my area (Wilts).

Mal

In reply to Malpractise:

A good site here... http://www.highland.gov.uk/learninghere/communitylearning/dukeofedinburghaw...

tbh you'll just have to trawl www's for info and ideas on lesson plans etc. Some of the Loacal Authorities have on-line info, as do some of the Cadet forces etc

In reply to Malpractise:

Hi Mal, I've been working with D of E groups for a while. I would definitely attempt to plan resources, it helps to give you a tick list in your head but as always when working with young people have about 3 different things up your sleeve. If you have a google about teaching navigation there are some good ideas around. Some ones which I have used in the past have been:

1) making a model of the topography represented by a grid square using something like playdough (you can make it really easily yourself). Make sure you pick features which are fairly easy to model, e.g. hills, cwms etc.

2) there is a website ( I can't remember what it is called at the moment) but their aim is to load a picture of every grid square in Britain. I've used that one by printing off pictures of the features and cut up a copy of a map and asking them to match them.

1 and 2 will get them thinking about how contours relate to the features, something which, I think, is one of the most important skills to learn.

3) Ordnance survey do flash cards with map symbols, you can play loads of games with those, particularly good for Bronze groups in rural areas where they walk through villages a lot. At least then they can match up a church on the ground with a church symbol.

4) When you want to teaching pacing and bearings if you have a piece of rough ground or something equivalent get them to hide sweets for each other and say what bearing and how many paces it is from a given start point.

Make the sessions as interactive as possible, try not to just lecture about cooking have a cooking competition allowing them to try out different foods and find out what they like. Also be really strict with the weight of their bags, they will hate you to start with when you ask them to empty out the hair straighteners, 30 chocolate bars etc but they will enjoy it so much more! Try and get them to love the hills/mountains, most of them are doing it for UCAS/CV but there will be a few who genuinely love it. If you're enthusiastic some of it may rub off, maybe, possibly!

Hope that wasn't a patronising list, I wasn't sure whether you had done anything similar before. If you want other ideas let me know, I can probably come up with some more if I think hard enough! Hope that helps

In reply to Malpractise:

Hi

try this page http://www.dofe.org/en/content/cms/leaders/resources-download/

and download the expedition training framework PDFs for the levels you need.

Have fun

In reply to Brownie:

and forgot this is good too

http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/homeworkhelp.html

by the mapmakers

In reply to canisp: on re-reading not sure my post makes the greatest sense, probably due to doing too much physics crossed with over excitement at the prospect of a good winter but hope you get the general gist!

In reply to canisp: Google "Geograph"

In reply to halfaseesaw: ah cheers that's the one I meant

In reply to Malpractise:

My groups pick up mapreading, campcraft, route planning and all the other stuff real quick.

The one thing they never get, and I mean never, is the lesson I give which I give the title - "What NOT to bring."

On the various kit checks I've done before I've found:
- 1kg of cheese. At the end.
- 4 FHM magazines (how much does that weigh!?)
- A whole metal pencil case full of pencils, pens and sharpeners. (Left over from school)
- A maths textbook (see above)
- Spare trainers for 'overnight'

It's worth ramming home with every ounce of strength you have!

In reply to Eric the Red: how about 2kgs of uncooked potatoes, 4 cans of coke and a box of eggs! From the same bag!!

In reply to canisp:

Most people who do D of E have the same storys in what the kids have either packed or not I have had one group who have had a bag full of sweets for a bronze complan for their bronze or even a disposal bbq and 2 days worth of meat to cook for a silver

In reply to Malpractise: all of the above is good advice, especially the over loading of teenage rucksacs, they seem to bring food for everyone.

For map training take them into a forest (one that is obviously on a map and has the same paths as those on the map)as it is great for setting the map using the compass and or taking a bearing, judging timings etc. and it can be done in a couple of hours after school and in winter.

Also use playing fields and getting them to walk on a bearing for 200m and back to the same spot is good, especially if they leave a sweety at the start so they have to find it.

Using mapping software such as Memory map is also brilliant for teaching about contours and features.

In reply to Malpractise: Cheers guys, loads of good stuff there. I look forwrad to putting it into practise. Many thanks

In reply to Malpractise: And one group I took out in September were carrying 4kg of fresh meat.
Spare!

Once you've got your BEL2 or BEL3, you can teach the NNAS Bronze (and Silver) - which is a brilliant all round technical skills course for navigation, map reading, etc.

Food is useful to learn about - I did a session last week for 40 DofE scouts.

We bought food for 8 meals, then had eight groups (in two one hour sessions) quickly run through the pros and cons of each meal:
Cost
Complexity
Comfort
Calories

Then they went away and cooked a meal, I judged it at the end, and pointed out stuff they'd learned along the way - during the session we also look at the stoves, talk about how to correctly light matches, wind protection, fuels, stability, etc.

Another good training method I've found at schools is to camp in the school grounds on a friday night, do camp craft in the evening and some basic navigation exercises in the sports hall - then a cooked breakfast and some navigation on a local orienteering course in the morning - then they get collected in time for lunch. It gives them lots of experience but doesn;t take away a whole weekend.

In reply to Malpractise:

Hi Mal

I've just uploaded 12 pages of lesson plans for the DofE expedition classroom based training.

They come with about 20 pages of course notes too and some other bits and bobs. They are really designed for silver and gold level but may be of some use.

You can download them from here http://lupineadventure.co.uk/downloads/dofe-downloads.html

Good Luck

Andy

I'm pretty sure it depends on the group. I did my bronze exped through my school a few years ago, we had standard sig bottles instead of the new fancy fuel specific ones, this girl thought they were for drinking from, not for fuel! And the amount of people who brought pajamas, pillows, and multiple sets of clothes was phenomenal. My Gold group were more experienced and we focused mainly on map skills and the different emergency procedures for wild country.

The more practical navigation work that can be done, the better, when it's all classroom based everyone gets bored and switches off...

Hope that helps