At BISC South Loop, the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award enriches our high school experience, helping students build confidence, resilience, and independence through real‑world learning beyond the classroom.
At BISC South Loop, we recognize that today’s young people are growing up in a world where connection is increasingly digital. Conversations often take place through screens, and shared experiences are just as likely to happen online as they are face‑to‑face. For many students, free time revolves around devices to socialize, unwind, or simply fill the space between busy schedules.
For parents, this can feel worlds apart from childhoods shaped by outdoor play, independence and real‑world exploration. This contrast is not simply nostalgic; it reflects how profoundly young people’s environments and experiences have changed, and how important it is to intentionally create opportunities for challenge, collaboration and human connection beyond the screen.
It is within this context that the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award (DofE) is a powerful feature of the BISC‑SL experience — complementing our academic excellence with a deep commitment to character, independence and experiential learning in the real world.
The DofE, celebrating its 70th anniversary, is a globally recognized youth development program that encourages young people to grow beyond the classroom.
Founded in 1956 by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh KG, KT, the Award has now been achieved by over seven million young people worldwide. Today, more than one million participants aged 14–24 are working towards their Award across over 120 countries.
The Award is structured around four key areas: volunteering, physical activity, skills, and the adventurous journey. Through Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels, students develop confidence, resilience, and independence through sustained challenge. At BISC-SL, we are proud to offer all levels within our high school, ensuring every student can participate and progress.
The Award creates space away from screens and familiar routines, placing students in situations where they must rely on themselves and each other. Whether navigating unfamiliar environments, managing time under pressure, or working through challenges as a team, students must think, communicate, and adapt in real time.
These experiences also offer something increasingly rare: discomfort in a safe and supported environment. Often, it is in moments of uncertainty, when plans change, conditions are difficult, or solutions are not immediate, that the most meaningful learning takes place. Students develop resilience not by avoiding challenge, but by working through it.
In this sense, DofE is not about stepping away from technology entirely, but about ensuring young people continue to develop the human skills that exist beyond it: judgement, teamwork, perseverance, and confidence in unfamiliar situations.
One of the most memorable elements is the Adventurous Journey.
Students work in teams to navigate using only a map and compass, with no phones or GPS. They carry all their equipment, set up camp, and cook their own meals while working through changing conditions.
This is where the experience becomes both challenging and memorable. Carefully planned meals occasionally turn into questionable “outdoor cuisine,” and confident navigation decisions are sometimes followed by the realization that the map may, in fact, have been correct all along. Add in unpredictable weather, from sunshine to very character-building rain and students quickly learn the importance of teamwork, humor, and adaptability.
These experiences build resilience, independence, and shared memories that often become some of the most talked-about moments of school life. They also strengthen friendships and create meaningful connections between students and teachers working alongside them.
DofE has grown significantly at our school in recent years.
Following its relaunch in 2021, participation has expanded from 21 students in the first bronze cohort to 157 students currently enrolled, representing over half of the high school. In total, more than 200 students have now taken part.
We are proud to run Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards, and this year marks an important milestone as our first senior cohort completes the Gold Award following their expedition in Switzerland last June, a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience with memories that will last well beyond their time at BISC-SL.
The Award is not only about completion, but about the journey: early starts, challenging expeditions, teamwork under pressure, and sustained commitment over time. The ceremony reflected the growth of the program within our school and its impact on students’ confidence, resilience, and independence.’
At a time when young people are more connected to screens than ever, our Duke of Edinburgh Award program offers something truly distinctive: purposeful time away from devices and meaningful engagement with the world beyond the classroom.
Embedded within the high school experience yet extending far beyond it, the Award reflects our school’s commitment to developing the whole child. From the earliest years, we prioritize outdoor learning, real‑world challenge and opportunities for students to build confidence through doing, not just viewing. Skills such as communication, curiosity, resilience and teamwork are nurtured long before students formally undertake the Award and are reinforced throughout their school journey.
The true strength of DofE lies not only in the milestones students complete, but in the character they develop along the way. It exemplifies our belief that the most powerful learning happens through experience — fostering independence, self‑belief and a lifelong readiness to step beyond the screen and into the world.
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