Mr Cartwright and Mr Wetten are in charge of this scheme. The program is run on a revenue neutral basis and this means that staff relief has to be budgeted for in the cost to participants. National Parks require a staff to student ratio of 1:8 as a safety measure and this obviously impacts directly on expedition costs. Information about these costs are supplied to interested students and parents.

The program has run at Smith's Hill for a number of years and in fact we are one of the largest centres in the Public Education System in terms of participant numbers. The expedition assessors are experienced bushwalkers and select hikes accessible by public transport which are scenic and appropriate for the award ie. fairly challenging! We usually focus on The Royal National Park and the upper and lower Blue Mountains although conditions such as bush fire risk, wind, flood, (but not just a bit of rain) can bring a change of venue.

We believe that this is a great opportunity for students to set goals and challenges for themselves, be responsible for themselves, work as part of a team and volunteer for the benefit of others and even get out into the bush! It's no surprise the award is highly regarded by government and industry as excellent training in leadership and personal growth.

Visit the NSW Duke of Edinburgh web site for a comprehensive overview of the scheme