In an earlier post regarding satellite tracking I talked about supervision and the context of how you apply this to a DofE setting, or at least, how I apply the compromise.
The relationship between conditions 2 & 3 of the DofE 20 conditions. The 20 conditions set standards or requirements for a pass at the expedition section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. So to refresh our memory here they are again:
2. Your expedition must be unaccompanied and self-sufficient.
3. Your expeditions must be supervised by an adult who is able to accept responsibility for the safety of you and your team.
At the end of October I was on my last expedition of the season, supervising an Open Gold Award expedition. 'Open' refers to the fact that the groups are made up of individuals who are not necessarily all from the same school or location, they are usually individuals who have missed previous expeditions through illness or clashes in the calendar.
With my camera in hand and a eye out for examples I was able to take some pictures of different levels of supervision in use. They will follow now with a brief synopsis of style and reason for the supervision. Starting with the most remote and steadily becoming more close.
Day 1. Remote supervision from the back slopes of Crybyn and Pen Y Fan, if you zoom in enough you can spot the high vis rucksack covers of the two groups I am supervising.
The reason for this style was the great weather and visibility and it was early on Day 1 of the expeditions. The students had demonstrated good levels of maturity and competence on the previous day's orientation.
Day 2 of the expedition saw poor visibility and cooler temperatures. After awaiting for some time at a check point I started to walk towards the group along their planned route. This is what I found. The group had decided to have lunch, and didn't actually realise I was there for a good couple of minutes. After saying hello and checking they were happy where they were going, I moved back into the mist towards the check point. After meeting them there I allowed them to get well ahead and then trailed them slowly out of sight in the mist along the ridge and down towards the next valley and my car.
Reason being that it was later in the day and visibility was poor, the route for day 2 was quite far and there were concerns in the group that they wouldn't make it to camp.
Skip ahead to Day 4 of the expedition, a pre-arranged spot that they knew I would be at, but that they did not pass directly through, as the group came up over the horizon, the group gave me a wave and carried on with their journey.
Reason being the group were crossing some reasonably featureless terrain with possible ankle sprain opportunity and on the last day groups were very tired. A simple visual acknowledgement meant they knew that they were in the right place and also I was close enough to help them, even though they didn't really need it.
Help close at hand and not needing it is a really motivating thing. No help available when you need some is not very motivating.
Back to Day 3 of the expedition, Sgwydreira Waterfalls. This section has a perceived risk of falling into the plunge pool. In reality the path on the inside of the waterfall is pretty gripy and straight forward, but nobody wants to be supervising "that expedition" when someone falls in!
Remember a duty of care exists, if I am not willing to accept responsibility for 'what happened' in court then I need to ensure they don't happen.
I believe that DofE is about encouraging and introducing young people to the outdoors. For novice 17-18 year olds this bit was quite intimidating. A clear brief and a firm grip on their rucksack on the way through meant they had a great expedition with all finishing successfully.
Hope these help to clarify my understanding of supervision in DofE a little more to you. Feel free to comment or message if you have any questions.
With thanks to A to Z expeditions.
The relationship between conditions 2 & 3 of the DofE 20 conditions. The 20 conditions set standards or requirements for a pass at the expedition section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. So to refresh our memory here they are again:
2. Your expedition must be unaccompanied and self-sufficient.
3. Your expeditions must be supervised by an adult who is able to accept responsibility for the safety of you and your team.
At the end of October I was on my last expedition of the season, supervising an Open Gold Award expedition. 'Open' refers to the fact that the groups are made up of individuals who are not necessarily all from the same school or location, they are usually individuals who have missed previous expeditions through illness or clashes in the calendar.
With my camera in hand and a eye out for examples I was able to take some pictures of different levels of supervision in use. They will follow now with a brief synopsis of style and reason for the supervision. Starting with the most remote and steadily becoming more close.
 |
| Remotely supervising in the Brecon Beacons |
The reason for this style was the great weather and visibility and it was early on Day 1 of the expeditions. The students had demonstrated good levels of maturity and competence on the previous day's orientation.
 |
| Un obtrusive spot check. |
Reason being that it was later in the day and visibility was poor, the route for day 2 was quite far and there were concerns in the group that they wouldn't make it to camp.
 |
| Visual affirmation a big wave and thumbs up from me but otherwise no interaction. |
Reason being the group were crossing some reasonably featureless terrain with possible ankle sprain opportunity and on the last day groups were very tired. A simple visual acknowledgement meant they knew that they were in the right place and also I was close enough to help them, even though they didn't really need it.
Help close at hand and not needing it is a really motivating thing. No help available when you need some is not very motivating.
 |
| Close or Direct supervision |
Remember a duty of care exists, if I am not willing to accept responsibility for 'what happened' in court then I need to ensure they don't happen.
I believe that DofE is about encouraging and introducing young people to the outdoors. For novice 17-18 year olds this bit was quite intimidating. A clear brief and a firm grip on their rucksack on the way through meant they had a great expedition with all finishing successfully.
Hope these help to clarify my understanding of supervision in DofE a little more to you. Feel free to comment or message if you have any questions.
With thanks to A to Z expeditions.
