The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme

Our thanks are due to four senior scouts, Scaife, Copeland, Beckingham and Plews for their help during the week and particularly at the busy end of camp. R.D.M. and I.A.G.

It is now five years that the Scheme has been in operation at this school and it is possibly time for a little stock-taking. The Award Scheme as operated here or anywhere else has never pretended to be a club or society and for that reason we have not expected boys to have any loyalty towards it other than self-loyalty. The aim of the Scheme is to offer a challenge to endeavour and achievement through a balanced programme of leisure time activities, and also an incentive and encouragement to the discovery, development and progressive enjoyment of new interests and aptitudes. It is a personal challenge from the Duke of Edinburgh to young people, to measure themselves against the standards set for each stage of the Award. And it is more than this. For we hope that the experience gained through expeditions will encourage other excursions of a quasi-adventurous nature to be organised and enjoyed long after leaving school; we hope experience of public service will enable other opportunities to be searched for and taken; we hope new interests gained will provide much satisfaction later— in days when leisure time increases and becomes more important. Finally we hope those who have gained from the Scheme will give back to the Scheme: there are many ways in which an adult can serve the Scheme, without becoming too involved, and thus enable many other young people to receive similar opportunities.

During the last two years the following awards have been made : Gold Award—A. J. E. Hodges, M. A. Groundwater. Silver Award—P. S. Disney, R. M. Green, C. E. Knowles, M. G. Pace, P. F. Reeves, R. W. J. Dingwall, D. 0. Jenkins, I. M. MacLeod, H. J. Robinson, D. P. Turnbull, D. M. L. Jackson, C. H. Noble.

Many others have completed their Bronze Award.

Let me make one thing clear: these awards are not simple to obtain. They require powers of perseverance and personal initiative which not everyone possesses. It is inevitable that some will not last the course. On the other hand, to reach the Gold level is indeed an honour to be justly, albeit modestly, proud of.

We are grateful for the help received from the Red Cross, the Civil Defence, the Police Service, the Fire Service and the R.S.P.C.A. for providing public service courses and we hope we repay them a little by performing actual service at the Gold level. We are looking for more public service opportunities and this may be facilitated when the local Education Authority starts to operate the Scheme. At present only a few schools in and around York participate in the Scheme and it is believed that we are alone in going up to the Gold level. More participation would certainly aid organisation and we look forward to this in the near future. N.T.B.