Latest news

On Tuesday 13 June, Year 12 A-level Geography students at Westminster City School visited the Royal Geographical Society in South Kensington for the ‘Be Inspired’ Everest 70 youth event organised by the Himalayan Trust. The event marks the 70th anniversary of mountaineers Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reaching the summit of Mount Everest in 1953.

Students heard from a range of inspirational geographers about their experiences of mountaineering, adventure and exploring extreme landscapes around the world. The first of the speakers, Leo Houlding, gave a fascinating insight into his travels across the inhospitable wilderness of Antarctica using only the power of the wind and a kite to transport him and his team across the dangerous terrain before climbing the Spectre mountain in the centre of the continent. Antarctica is a key focus of the A-level Geography specification, so this was an invaluable way to bring theory to life.

Students then heard from scientist Dr Melanie Windridge, who spoke about how her passion for science inspired her to climb Mount Everest, and Adriana Brownlee, who at just 21 years of age successfully climbed 10 peaks above 8000km in height. A particularly poignant moment of the event was when Peter Hillary and Jamling Tenzing took to the stage; as the sons of the two explorers who were the first to climb to the top of Mount Everest 70 years ago, they were able to give a unique insight into the legacy of their fathers’ achievements and how this inspired them to follow in their footsteps and become explorers themselves.

The final lecture presented by television personality, Ray Mears, was also a particular hit with the students. He spoke passionately about what he had learned from a varied and interesting career of living alongside indigenous communities around the world and encouraged everyone to “seize the day” and explore the world around them.

Subject Leader of Geography, Ms Baulcomb said:

“The event was truly inspirational and presented our students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear first-hand from famous explorers who have accomplished great things and more. These students were able to understand the importance of collaboration and teamwork in achieving their dreams and maximising their full potential.

"In fact, American inspirational author Orison Swett Marden wrote that 'there are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you could become'. 

"There are no limits to what one can achieve in life.”

Westminster City School would like to thank Polar Capital for their generous funding to enable our students to attend this event.