Fifteen intrepid year 9 & 10 students from St Matthew Academy made the journey into school early on a Saturday morning after receiving their Expedition kit the night before with a mixture of excitement and nervousness to start the Duke of Edinburgh Qualifying Expedition.  After a quick kit check and a full safety brief all, pupils and staff Leaders departed by minibus for the drop off point (DOP) at St Giles Church in Farnborough, Kent.   Pupils were then sent off in their designated groups to follow the route they had planned to the camp site at Frylands Scout Camp near New Addington, Croydon, and pass a series of checkpoints on the way. All 3 teams made it to camp safely and at various times before "Pitching Tents“ and cooking an evening meal using their small stoves before settling down in their tents to get a good night’s sleep.

At 07.00hrs Sunday morning all groups were greeted and woken by Mr Saunders singing some of his favourite hits around the camp site and the 3 groups soon woke covering their ears and shouting “Sir please stop“, so they quickly prepared a hot breakfast and packed all equipment away ready for the return walk to the pickup point (PUP).

The mixed team of Year 9 & 10 were first to arrive back at the church in less than 4 hours, covering the 8.2 Km, and they returned to school.  The last 2 groups came in at closer to 5 hours which was considerably quicker than the day before.

All groups received a thorough de-brief of what went well and what improvements were required if they were to undertake the Silver Award Expedition in the future.  They then made their way home, with sore shoulders and feet, but with a resounding feeling that they had really achieved something, which will always be remembered, well after this weekend was over.