If you are careful with your planning, the Residential section can be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of participation in the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Please read the following guidelines before deciding on your activity:
1. You must be away from home for a minimum of five days and four nights and must have identified an Assessor.
2. There must be a specific, shared course or activity to broaden experiences and interests done with an organised group, registered charity or Approved Activity Provider.
3. The group you are resident with should be unknown to you.
4. Before the residential, you should carry out appropriate training, briefing or research.
5. Boclair Academy must have approved the planned residential.
Further details
1. Attending a group activity during the day but returning home each evening is not allowed. You should stay overnight with the group. Individual home stays or staying with a friend or relative are not allowed.
2. In most cases, the residential will be over consecutive days and nights. In exceptional circumstances, and at the discretion of East Dunbarton Council, the residential could be spread over two weekends in the same 12-month period during which the same activity must be pursued.
3. Evenings are as important as the day, so you should be mixing with the group during planned activity and down time.
4. The Assessor should engage with you during the residential and must be familiar with the aims and objectives of the Section.
5. Doing an activity individually during the day whilst staying in a residential setting with others would not count.
6. You must volunteer your time on the residential and not receive payment; however, you may receive money for expenses.
7. Work experience and live-in internships are not acceptable.
8. Going on holiday is not an appropriate activity. You should do some form of purposeful activity, such as a training course leading to a qualification, a course which develops skills or interests or which involves volunteering. As with other sections, this should not be an activity which is part of the curriculum.
9. You cannot count your practice or qualifying expedition for this section.
10. The group should be no smaller than five people (including the participant) who are all on the residential experience, as the interaction with others is crucial to the success of the residential and a group any smaller than this will not provide sufficient opportunities.
11. Participants should ideally join a residential as an individual. A few participants may know each other when they are joining a larger group, where possible these participants should be separated.
12. Other members of the group can be of any age.
13. The staff should also be unknown to the participant (for example, helping Bronze or Silver participants with their expeditions for your school or DofE group is not acceptable).
14. You should research the activity that you have chosen and follow any pre-activity instructions or requirements. In some cases this may mean meeting some of the people on the residential once or twice before the residential for essential training.
15. All residential opportunities must be approved in advance of the residential taking place.
