Regents Review - Summer 2026

The Regents Review Summer 2026

GENERAL NEWS

Duke of Edinburgh Award The Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) has been a huge success so far this year, with students from Year 9 and 10 set to complete their awards soon. It is always a huge challenge, balancing school work with extra-curriculars and DofE requires them to volunteer, build skills and get involved in physical activity every week - a big ask for secondary school students! But they are keeping up with it; across the current cohort, we are seeing more students prepared to complete their awards by the end of the year than we have before, a testament to their commitment and dedication. Some of you may not know what the DofE is (or parents/ guardians may remember their own… positively or negatively) and be wondering if your child can sign up. No doubt they may well have heard about it from the older years and be excited to get involved – or maybe a bit

nervous about what it entails. Rest assured: DofE has changed a lot over the past few years and the days of mindlessly trudging through bogs in the rain, needing to hit ten miles or more are long, long gone. DofE as an organisation is committed to making their award accessible for all and we try especially hard to embody this in our approach at RPCC. DofE is available to all students, of all abilities. The award involves the following four sections: learning a new skill outside of school; getting involved with sport or fitness; volunteering in the local community; and two “expeditions” where students have to work as a team to navigate their own routes, with a night’s camping (Year 9) or two nights (Year 10) in the middle. Their final assessed expeditions are the ultimate test of their communication, teamwork and motivation with minimal input from staff as they trek across the New Forest (Year 9) or the Isle of Wight (Year 10). Of course: this is after weeks of preparation and training, provided by the DofE team here at RPCC and we

make sure that they are prepared and that everyone’s needs are adapted for, ahead of these multiple-day hikes. It is a lot of work, but it is immensely rewarding. So a big, big “well done” to our current DofE students – they are truly inspiring and have showed me time and time again that they are capable of working together and passing their assessed expeditions. It has been amazing working with these young people to build skills that we do not always get to teach in a classroom environment and seeing them excel in all areas of the award. If your child wishes to get involved, there will be information going out to Year 8 and Year 9 students shortly. Even if they did not sign up for their “Bronze” DofE in Year 9 they are welcome to sign up for “Silver” in Year 10. As I said before, anyone can sign up! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate

to email me. Mr J Walker

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