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American rock climber Alex Honnold ‘free soloing’ El Capitan in Yosemite National Park was on the agenda last week at a Wheeler Programme study day.
Students in Year 11 of the programme heard from Head of Wellbeing at Wellington College Ian Morris, who told them about Honnold’s different ascents of Half Dome and ‘El Cap’ and how his experiences can be adapted to GCSE success.
They also heard from educator and author Sir Anthony Seldon on how he walked 1,000km tracing the historic route of the Western Front, discussed with him the state of political leadership in the world today and considered how to be happy.
The day also included a careers session and a session with debating coach Adam Cox on how to properly debate topics such as ‘Should AI be banned in education?’.
Established in 2017, the Wheeler Programme is a fully-funded educational programme for around 100 selected state school pupils.
Twenty-four students are selected in Year 9 and the college helps support them until their graduation from the programme at the end of Year 13.
They start the programme with a five-day residential course at Wellington, where they experience life in a boarding school, and then take part in three or four study days a year, tailored to their age.
