Visit to Redpoint

 Redpoint, the AMAZING Climbing Centre, which is up next to the Lea & Perrins factory on Midland Road offered schools in the area some complimentary climbing sessions.

After a phone call, a few emails and a catch up with a couple of my old University buddies who help run the centre, Primary 3 were booked on for an hour on the 15th of July.

Now, a number of the class had climbed before but what was most impressive was all of the pupils stepping up to have a go during the session. They started off with their instructor Sam in a group session, familiarising themselves with the technical and safety aspects of the session on a top rope exercise.

After the pupils acquitted themselves with a surprising amount of focus and concentration, they moved onto to some of the self-belay posts, where the safety of their climb is regulated by a mechanical device. This, in itself, is another major psychological hurdle, as they are operating alone without the direct support or reference of the instructor. Again, all pupils were really impressive with their application to the activity.

Some of the pupils found the activity tricky at first, but with a little encouragement were able to show substantial progress in both their accomplishments and confidence.

For the final 20 minutes, the pupils unclipped, took off their harnesses and made their way to the Bouldering area. After a brief outline by Sam, they were left to explore and climb independently.

This was another learning curve for the pupils as they set the level of challenge for themselves and monitored their own risk.

Overall, the morning was a huge success. The pupils got to experience a new and inspiring activity, all the while acting in a positive and respectful manner to the instructor and staff.

I would like to end by offering a big thank you to Sam, Abby and Craig for making the whole experience so enjoyable for Primary 3.