Killara High School has a wide range of programs that support student learning and enhance social and personal development. They operate as part of the extended before and after school timetable and are designed to complement the curriculum by enriching the core learning experiences for students. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award program is available in more than 140 countries, with over 8 million young people having participated worldwide.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is open to students 14 years of age or older. All Participants are supported by a network of adult Award Leaders, Assessors, Supervisors, and mentors.
The program is a flexible, interesting and fun-packed way for students to participate in a number of activities over a set length of time. It is entirely voluntary and is structured so that participants can design their own unique program, centered on their interests and passions.
“Involvement fosters personal achievement through individual challenge and presents a balanced, non-competitive programme of voluntary activities which encourage personal discovery and growth, self-reliance, perseverance, responsibility for self and service to the community.”
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award includes four components:
- Developing a skill
- Service to the community
- Physical recreation
- Adventurous journey
The skills section provides an opportunity for you to improve an existing skill or try something new. The community service section gives you a chance to give back to the community and help others and the physical recreation section encourages healthy behaviours. The Adventurous Journey provides an opportunity to challenge yourself with your peers to achieve a goal.
Requirements of the Award:
Killara High Students in Year 9 will start with the Bronze Award. Once they are 14 and 9 months and have completed the Bronze Award students can, if they choose, progress to the Silver Award. Students who are at least 16 years old and have completed their Silver Award can progress to the Gold Award.
- For the Bronze DOE, you participate in two activities for one hour a week (or up to 4 hours per month) for 3 months (13 weeks) and one major activity that you participate in for one hour a week for 6 months (26 weeks).
- For the Silver DOE, you participate in each activity for one hour a week for 6 months (26 weeks).
- For the Gold DOE, you participate in each activity for one hour a week for 12 months (52 weeks) and you also participate in a residential project.
Each activity requires a regular commitment, not an intense project over a few days. You organise and participate in activities of your choice.
Following are some suggestions of activities that you can choose inside and outside of school. Assessor information is provided for in-school activities. If you choose to participate in an activity outside of school your assessor:
- cannot be a parent or relative
- will need to have a Working With Children Check (WWCC) number
- will need to complete the Appendix 11 and Assessor Commencement Guide (ACG) forms if they are not registered with the school. A list of assessors already registered with the school, and who therefore do not require Appendix 11 and Assessor Commencement Guides.
| Assessors available at Killara High School | |
| Skill | Contact |
| Coding | Owen Telfer (TAS) |
| Cooking | Liz Allcott (TAS) Shannon Clough (TAS) |
| Creative Writing | Anne Carroll (English) Daniel Beach (Engish) |
| Debating | Anne Carroll (English) |
| Guitar/Musical Instrument | CAPA |
| PAE Program | Grace Dale (CAPA) |
| Physical Activity | PDHPE |
| Band - Help Junior Concert Band | Grace Dale (CAPA) |
| Canteen | Ferlyne Ng |
| Duke of Ed Leadership | Jen Downes (PE) |
| Mentoring | Lucy Dahill |
| Peer Tutoring - reading, knitting, library assistant | Library Staff |
| Uniform shop | Barb Liebenberg |
Adventurous Journey
The Adventurous Journey involves preliminary training, followed by a practice and then a qualifying expedition. The Bronze journeys are each two days in length, Silver journeys are three days and Gold journeys are four days.
Bronze Adventurous Journey
This will involve a training/information session at school run by the student Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Leadership, which goes through navigation and route planning, first aid and emergency management, cooking, leadership, equipment.
Also includes a four-day camp at Somerset Outdoor Learning Centre, comprising a two-day practice journey and a two-day qualifying journey. Students will be hiking in groups, carrying all required equipment in a provided rucksack, and sleeping in tents.
Why should I get involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program?
- It’s a fun opportunity to challenge yourself and have adventures!
- It helps you develop and demonstrate the skills sought after by employers, universities and scholarship providers, such as problem solving, teamwork, communication, adaptability, resilience, organisation, creativity and leadership.
- The Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award can be used to get bonus ATAR points at the University of NSW and can be part of a portfolio to gain entrance to the Australian National University, both of which have moved away from only selecting students based on ATARs
- It improves your academic performance and mental health.
Read more about
UWS research on the importance of the Duke of Edinburgh Award program
The results of the study show that improvements to a Participant’s self-confidence, ability to cope with change (resilience), leadership, overall effectiveness and active involvement could be directly attributed to participation in the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award and could also be measured. It also found that the Award impacted the learning of the qualities of time efficiency, self-efficacy, social effectiveness, co-operative teamwork, stress management, and, external locus of control can also be attributed to the current set up of the Award, but in a less compelling manner.