Award Setup

Welcome to YouthAdvance!

Thank you for registering with YouthAdvance Australia – An Open Award Centre For The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Australia. We’re excited to have you on board! On this page, we have listed the next steps for you to complete in order to finalise your registration and get you started on your Award.

4 Steps to Starting Your Award…

STEP 1 – WORK OUT YOUR ACTIVITIES
There are 3 sections that you need to setup
– A physical recreation/sport section – an activity where you sweat;
– A skill section – this can be something you already do or something you have wanted to try; and
– A service section – community service is an important component to the award.
1 section is a “major” section and the other 2 are “minor” sections. You can choose which is which.
You only complete a major section in the first level that you complete.
For Bronze: the major section is an additional 13 hours
For Silver and Gold: the major section is an additional 26 hours
If you need some inspiration, have a look at the following links:
Skills – Skills Ideas
Service – Service Ideas
Physical recreation – Phys Rec Ideas
Other ideas: Other Award Options
STEP 2 – ASSESSOR SETUP
Your assessor is the person who will sign off on each of your activities. This is usually a teacher/coach/supervisor for each of your chosen activities. Your assessor needs to have some experience in the activity as well as a valid Working With Children Check number.
You need to contact your assessor, check they are happy to be involved with your award and then email them a form to fill in and return to us.
Below is the link to the electronic Assessor Commencement Guide (eACG) form. After the eACG is filled in, you will receive an automated email from your assessor advising they have completed the form.
DO NOT COMPLETE STEP 3 UNTIL YOU HAVE AN EMAIL FROM YOUR ASSESSOR ADVISING THEY HAVE FILLED IN THE FORM.
E-ACG: (forward the link via email to your Assessor for them to complete): eACG Link
You will receive an email when they have completed it. Only then should you proceed to Step 3.

STOP!!! If you have not received an email from your assessor that they have completed the form, please don’t start Step 3.

Completed documents

If you require hard copies of any documentation, please send the hard copies to:

STEP 3 – ONLINE RECORD BOOK

You will need to register for a new account on the Online Record Book (ORB). The ORB is where you will log all the hours you undertake for each activity. For instructions on how to sign-up, click HERE.

Once you have an account, setup each activity with the activity details, assessor details and a goal. Ensure your goal is S.M.A.R.T and also detailed.

Press Setup and it will be sent to YouthAdvance for approval.
Note: If you assessor hasn’t completed their form when you complete Step 3, we will reject your activity until they have completed the form. Therefore, please don’t commence Step 3 until Step 2 is finalised.
Note: If your goal is not S.M.A.R.T, we will reject your activity until you revise it

When participants set up their goals in the Online Record Book for each for their activities, they MUST follow the SMART Goal Method. The goal MUST be descriptive and provide insight into the activity they are undertaking. One Line sentences are NOT allowed!

STEP 4 – START LOGGING HOURS!

Once your activity is approved you will then be able to log hours. 
Ensure you log the hours you do (i.e. if you practice for 2 hours, log 2 hours even though the ORB will only recognise 1 of the hours).
Put detail in your logs and don’t cut and paste them. Explain what you did in that practice session. If your logs are not detailed enough, your award may be rejected by State Award Office. 

Please review the below picture for a good example of variation/detail in logs

EXTRA INFORMATION

YOUTHADVANCE ADVENTUROUS JOURNEYS

Our Duke of Ed Adventurous Journeys are designed to challenge you and provide you with a sense of achievement. We provide both school-specific programs, or Open programs for individuals participating outside of a school. We also hold our AJs throughout the school holidays and during the school term so no matter what your schedule or your situation, YouthAdvance has a program to suit your adventurous side.

Open Award Centre Participants can book directly via our AJ program page. School-Specific Program Participants will be advised via email and during school meetings on how to book.

NOTE – As of 1st of February 2019, all YouthAdvance Participants who wish to undertake their AJs externally to YouthAdvance will be required to complete the External Adventurous Journey Providers (EAJP) AJ Request Application Form. This is due to our responsibility and priority to ensure that the organisations our participants engage with are fulfilling their duties to ensure safety and abide by the award requirements. The lodgement of the EAJP will incur a $55.00 administration fee payable per participant, per program.

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

Request to become a member of the Participant and Parent Facebook Group: YouthAdvance – Open Award Centre – it’s a great way of keeping up to date and we post some important info and reminders on there. 

YOUR YOUTHADVANCE AWARD CONTACTS

Your primary contact at YouthAdvance will be your Award Leader for all activity/ORB/sign off and paperwork related questions

For Camp Info – please speak to our Program Co-ordinator

For Equipment Info, including hire gear – please ask to speak to one of our Guides

THANK YOU!

Again, we thank you for choosing YouthAdvance as your Award Centre, remember we are here to help so you can gain the most out of the Award. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate in contacting us!