Starting out?

I'm looking at becoming a D of E Expedition Assessor to help out some D of E groups that I have occasionally worked with.  The problem seems to be that the people in power at the D of E I have contacted seem to suggest that it is a very complex procedure blah blah blah.

I'm an ML and have things like a recent CRB check done on me (by one of the colleges I have been helping).  I've also done the two lots of online learning from the D of E websites (as trivial as they are, they seem to be required).  What should I do next?

I'd really like to be able to help with a Gold Assessment in end of March.  The college is helping me as much as they can, but I'm not sure they really understand the assessor accreditation procedure.

The daft thing is, everyone I've spoke to says they need more assessors, but for some reason, I don't seem to be able to navigate through the paperwork (a houlie during a white out at night is no problem in comparison). Any advice greatfully received!

I would contact your local authority http://www.dofe.org/takepart/ and talk to them. I think there is a course involved and you start as a bronze/ silver assessor. Your ML will definitely help.

There's a list of assessor accreditation courses here http://www.dofe.org/en/content/cms/Leaders/Training/Opportunities/eaascourses/eaascourses.aspx

What Buffalo man says is correct.

As from 2010 all Assessors must have been  through the accreditation syllabus and currently there is a push to get as many  through as possible in the shortest of times. I think the botttle neck will be where you have to do an assisted  assessment under an accredited assessor (AAs).    Most  AAs are stretched at the moment just supporting the Gold teams  and not many will be available for Bronze/Silver Assessment.  

To get to Gold level you have another on line module to do.  Most Gold ventures are in Wild Country  areas,   each one associated with a Wild Country Panel.  Suggest you contact the secretary of the WCP area in which you are interested. Details on the DofE website. Suggest  you choose an area  close to home and with which you are fully acquainted since one of your responsibilities is to advise on safety throughout the chosen route.

One other thing of note. A  Gold level assessor  needs to be independent of the award group so you will have to be  more selective as to   which groups you  help out with.  Also there are very few assessments in March since the season does not begin until the beginning of that month and there  will be a need to put in  some practice expeditions first.

I'm with pedro on this.  The guide I have worked to is that a trainer can assess his/her bronze group, can assess a sliver group he has not trained, but who are known to him and can only assess a gold group who have not been trained nor are known to him.....so, if you are involved in any way with a gold group you cant assess it regardless!

Best bet is to get a hold of your operating authorityand ask them.....OAs are usually short of Bronze/Silver assessors, so will do their best to get you on board!

Pedro - where has this ruling re 2010 come from - I seem to have missed this one out somewhere!

As to the gold group I am looking at assessing, I was only involved with training one of their four groups (though all groups were on Dartmoor at the same time).  This was specifically so that I had not been involved with training of the other three groups.  In fact, I have never even spoken to any of the other three groups.  I think the person organising this work was really clued up on the limits of this.

Are the online modules referred to those reached from pre-course and gold?  I've done both of these and printed the "certificates" out.

Can someone also clarify who an Operating Authority are?  Are they the regional section like London or South East, or a lower level group affiliated in some way to these regional areas?  The reason I have asked is that I have been in touch with the training people for London and the South East, neither of which seemed very enthusiastic, despite me hearing these comments that exped assessors are in short supply.

The operating authority will be whoever the group is registered with - so, could be the Scout Association, Guides, Local Authority, Cadets or, in some cases (and often if the group is from a private school) the group itself.

The person you really need to talk to about this is the person in charge of the group - he should know who their OA is as he has to get the kid's record books from them.

For instance - I do a little bit for a private school  (they are their own OA), a cadet group (OA is national cadets), scouts (OA is....), guides (OA is....) you get the picture.  The operating authority should (yes I know, should OK) be able to point you in the right direction and, if big enough, may even have their own courses.

I understand some of your frustration - I have my ML, have been on an assessing in the outdoors course at The Brenin, am a teacher, etc etc....and yet....  but stick with it.  It'll be worth it in the end! 

Simon

Not sure where I heard about it but that is the reason the Assessor Accreditation scheme has been brought in. Looked on DofE website. Only thing I could find was:-

"In the Expedition section, qualifying expeditions must be assessed by a competent adult who is approved by the Operating Authority and accredited by the DofE through the Expedition Assessor Accredition Scheme"

Paul

The website has a section on 'how to find who your Local Operating Authority is"

Thanks Pedro,

I'll go have a look later.  Accreditation was always a prerequisite for Gold (which partly explains why I dont assess at Gold level) but accreditation for Bronze and Silver - not sure how that works! That means that they will have to accredit literally hundreds of assessors?

What I did know was that the idea of Gold "Panels" is disappearing  and once accredited, you can assess Gold anywhere in the country whereas before you would be attached to a panel and could only assess in that panel's area.....

Hi Paul,

I have just looked at the NW Region page for the DoE Award - all the info is there, including the required training courses.

S

Simon,

I don't suppose you have a direct link do you?  I find navigating around the D of E site about as simple as navigating through its assessor accreditation process.

I found the page where the NW Intro and Assessor courses were listed, but nothing I would class as "all the info"

sorry for the length _ I have no idea how to do short links!

http://www.dofe.org/en/content/cms/Local_Contacts/RegionCountryNotice/North_West/Training/Training.aspx

That'll show you the three courses they are doing (BEL, new DoE Leaders and assessors).

When you download the assessor booking pdf, you will see that you need to do the new leaders one first/as well.

I have emailed the NW region asking about prior learning etc...will come back to you as soon as I get an answer!

Simon Barry wrote (see)

Thanks Pedro,

I'll go have a look later.  Accreditation was always a prerequisite for Gold (which partly explains why I dont assess at Gold level) but accreditation for Bronze and Silver - not sure how that works! That means that they will have to accredit literally hundreds of assessors?

What I did know was that the idea of Gold "Panels" is disappearing  and once accredited, you can assess Gold anywhere in the country whereas before you would be attached to a panel and could only assess in that panel's area.....

Accreditation of  becoming an  assessor  includes doing a supervised assessment under a accredited assessor so there is a requirement for all current assessors to assess at Bronze/Silver level ! I've already had requests from 'trainees' for me to supervise such assessments next year.   I reckon there is going to be one big bottleneck.

You are correct in that WCPs are disappearing - in fact they disappeared at the beginning of  November - to be replaced by Local Operating Areas. I have never seen it in writing and so can only make a stab  at the reason - they now cover additional areas   which are not wild country for Bronze/Silve purposes.  If you look at the online gold module  it still talks about 'local area knowledge'  so attachment to an area is as before.

Its all a bit of a nightmare in the making isnt it............

 I think I'll be getting on to the NW regional office tomorrow as, if I have to do a supervised assessment before accreditiation....that raises all sorts of issues before next summer!

I seem to be finally getting somewhere.  I spoke to someone important in an Operating Authority last night.  I won't name them or their OA, as they were quite candid with me.

It seems my biggest mistake is to be talking with Regions instead of Operating Authorities (like I was supposed to know the difference....).  OA's can basically licence anyone they choose (currently, though the new rules are supposed to stop this).  The advice I got was to call a few OAs.  It was suggested that I would not have a hard time finding one that is short of Gold Assessors and realise that an ML who has done things like Scout From M assessment and already helped out running gold training expeds would be good for them.  Get signed up and then do the accreditation course as a sort of post approval tick in the box to meet the future requirements.  My current CRB check (six months ago) would be fine for that tick in the box too.  Having things like my own public liability insurance seemed to be a very pleasant surprise.

Once an OA approves you, you are licenced for any OA, so my problem will be solved and I can start actually helping people on what I think is a really great scheme.

First damn time I have spoken to anyone in the D of E who seems to genuinely want me to be part of it (apart from the schools I have worked with, who all desperately want me to get approved).  And apart from a few people on forums like this.

It seems ridiculous that some D of E administrators seem to think I should start with just bronze level.  I know a Gold assessor who failed his ML outright and could not navigate his way out of bed yet he can be responsble for a group of kids out on the hill (though not mine I can tell you), when he will only see them twice a day (if he can actually find the meeting point).  I'm sure many/most gold assessors are not like this, but it irritates me when some people seem to think I need to spend years within the D of E environment before moving up to gold level.

Sorry, rant over, I actually wanted to be very positive about the encouragement I received yesterday.

Simon,

Thanks for the clarification; I certainly didn't think of the difference between assessor and supervisor.  And I certainly wouldn't claim you need a qualification to run anything.  Even the MLTUK understand this.  Getting a qualification is just one way of demonstrating competence (though probably the easiest one should it come to a court of law).  Interestingly, the supervisor who I know does not have anything above a BELA, she they would not be able to be responsible for groups on Dartmoor etc (as BELA specifically states that moorland is out of remit).

As to the CRB, I was told that this would be okay by both the OA and the Regional area.  I was surprised, but that's what I was told.

Right, off to renew my first aid cert now...