From September 2025, Wren Academies Trust is excited to be offering its Year 12 students the opportunity to complete their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.

At both Wren Academy Finchley and Enfield, there has been a long history of engagement in the Award at both Bronze and Silver. For this year, just under 500 students have taken part in the programme with Wren Academy Enfield being recognised by the Department for Education for having the highest number of participants across all London secondary schools.

As the newly appointed Gold Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator for the Trust, I am looking forward to replicating our success at the challenging Gold level with as many students participating as possible. My extensive experience in a variety of DofE roles and my expertise in mountainous environments, will place our students in the best position to be supported in completing the Award so they can benefit from the character building experience.

Like the lower award levels, it consists of a Physical, Skill, Volunteering and Expedition section. The expedition takes place for four days and three nights in mountainous areas, such as Snowdonia and the Lake District, and includes a night of wild camping. This camping requires students to be self-sufficient in an area without access to sanitary and cooking facilities. Though different to many young people’s prior knowledge of camping, it is an exhilarating one which allows them the opportunity to experience views and surroundings many others do not. Included are images of previous Wren Academy Finchley students taking part in the Gold expedition.

The Gold Award also has an additional section in which students complete a Residential for five days and four nights. This is an opportunity for students to spend time away from home, volunteering for a cause and residing in a communal setting, getting to work with people they have not come across before. This combined with the other sections, develops a variety of skills which will be invaluable to students as they go onto further study or the workplace. Of most importance are the memories and experiences which they will look back on fondly in the years ahead.

If your child is interested in completing the award in the future, please see the link to the presentation which was shared at the Gold DofE Information Evening earlier this term. This presentation can be found at the bottom of the DofE page on our website.

Current Year 11 students or parents who missed the information evening are welcome to email me by Thursday 17 July if you are interested in signing up for the award in the next academic year.