Team-building on a low ropes course was just one item on the agenda when the newest group of Wheeler Programme students got together.

The 24 students also took part in a Kahoot quiz about Wales and learned some Welsh language, as well as discussing sustainable development.

At the induction day, on Wednesday May 10, the students also met programme founder Nick Wheeler (pictured with group above) and got to visit the boarding houses they will stay in on their residential course at Wellington College.

Chosen from 70 applicants put forward by their teachers, the students came from 16 state schools including Charters, Collingwood, Garth Hill, The Holt and Ranelagh schools.

During the five-year programme, which has been running since 2017, they attend two residential courses at Wellington College, a number of study days and online sessions, as well as university visits and talks, all designed to complement the education they are already getting in their own schools.

Sue Parker, head of the Wheeler Programme, said: “We are really thrilled that these students have joined us this year.

“We had more applications than ever before and it was a hard job selecting the successful students.

“We have now welcomed them to two induction days and look forward to their week’s residential course in June.”

They are the seventh group of youngsters to go through the programme.

Former Brakenhale School student Miles Harvey graduated from the Wheeler Programme this summer and says it helped him find his direction in life.

Now at Portsmouth University studying business and management, he says: “The Wheeler Programme helped me greatly in finding where my true passion lay, which was in business, thanks to the lessons, public speakers and trips to universities such as Oxford.

“The study days and residential stays allowed me to access a much wider understanding of knowledge; from the lessons we did with other Wellington students to the resources we were introduced to.”

“Overall, it was an amazing opportunity that I was glad to be a part of.”