A Short History of Outdoor Education at Dane Court

Alps expedition 1990 Including pupils from Charles Dickens High School, Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar and Oakwood Park Grammar. Additional staff were provided by the Kent Teachers' Mountaineering Association, The Kent Mountain Centre and The South London Army Youth Team

I joined the Dane Court staff in September 1987. Initially I was teaching CDT and Physics but when Nick Petit moved on I added responsibility for outdoor education. Rock climbing has always been my personal favourite but, with six years instructional experience in the mountains, I was able to offer wide range of activities and venues. I also had numerous contacts with enthusiastic staff running similar activities for schools all over Kent. We soon organised regular climbing trips to Southern Sandstone venues and more adventurous expeditions to North Wales, The Peak District the Lakes and the Alps; some of these were joint ventures with other schools.

Sadly, in 1989, Eric Fitzpatrick had to retire early but his enthusiasm was such that he continued to join us for our KMC visits; sometimes twice each year. Eric also set up an annual award offering financial help to pupils organising their own outdoor expeditions. Over the years the EBF Award has helped pupils travel to adventures in all corners of Britain and as far afield as the French Alps, South America and Mount Cook in New Zealand.

Kent Mountain Centre - February 1992

On board Kent Sail Training vessel 'Sally Endeavour'

The school is positioned on a peninsular and thus has water near at hand on three sides. There are numerous opportunities for pupils to get involved with watersports out of school so we rarely offer such things to our pupils. I did make one exception when the County acquired a 12 berth yacht which they skippered and made available for school- and youth-groups.

As Mountain Biking became an activity in its own right, I started a Cross-country club. This grew in popularity as the sport matured. Beyond the regular day trips in and around Kent, there were expeditions to the Peak District, Lakes, Pyrenees, Alps, Scotland, Pennine Way and South Downs Way. The latter became an annual event attracting one of the highest rates of return participants of any trip. It is interesting to note that the South Downs Way mountain bike trip was easily the most physically demanding of any expedition run by Dane Court. Looking back now, I am surprised anyone would want to suffer the rain, cold, sleet, snow and unrelenting rollercoaster of steep hills. Competing in a cross-country mountain bike race near Maidstone >

Kayaking in the French Alps		Any visitor to this website will appreciate that outdoor rock climbing has been, and still is, a significant part of what we do. For more than a decade Dane Court pupils have been able to take their skills further than most climbers of their age. My aim is to equip them with the knowledge and experience to make them confident and competent climbing leaders. I was reassured, recently, when I met an ex-pupil. He told me about his first month at university when he attended the students' climbing club freshers meet in the Peak District. His performance on the day so impressed the club's senior members that he was immediately invited to join them the following weekend on a climbing trip to the Lake District. He also attended the next freshers meet but this time as one of the leaders. In the early 2000's, we have become more involved in competition climbing. Initially the indoor nature of the events occupied the cold damp months over the winter when climbing outdoors was rarely satisfactory. The thought of entering competitions really only occurred after we built our own bouldering wall at school. It certainly had a remarkable effect on our climbers' outdoor skills. Competitions seemed the logical next step. After a surprisingly successful first season, interest blossomed and a series of ever more impressive results culminated in two of our students joining the British Climbing Team and competing internationally as far afield as China and Russia.
A Dream of White Horses Gogarth, North Wales August 2003	Competing in the second round of the British Bouldering Championships NEC, Birmingham Spring 2003

Summary of our competition climbing performance from 2000 to 2007:

	Date	Event	Summary of Results	Total
	Spring 2000	BRYCS '00	Five of the top ten places in London and SE. Two national finalists in 13-15 category finishing 18th and 22nd.	8
	Winter 2000/2001	SIBL 00/01	Seven of the top ten places overall, including first to fourth. Thirteenth (at 14 years old) in male open category.	13
	Spring 2001	BRYCS '01	Four of the top ten places in both 10-12 and 13-15 category in London and SE. One national finalist in 13-15 category finishing 6th.	10
	Winter 2001/2002	SIBL 01/02	Two finished in the top ten of the junior category. Two (aged 14 and 15) finished 7th and 9th in the male open category.	12
	January 2002	BICC '02 Round 2	Two entries finishing 6th and 12th.	2
	Spring 2002	BBC 01/02	7th overall in junior boys category.	1
	Autumn 2002	BRYCS '02	Two of the top ten places in the 10-12 category. Six of the top ten places in the 13-15 category in London and SE. One national finalist in 13-15 category finishing 5th.	11
	Winter 2002/2003	SIBL 02/03	Five finished in the top ten of the junior category. One (aged 15) finished 4th in the male open category.	14
	January 2003	Italian Job	Open Bouldering Competition. Junior team placed first. Individual places; 2nd to 5th in junior male category. 4th and 6th in under 14 category.	6
	Spring 2003	BBC 02/03	Five compete in junior boys category. Highest placing 8th.	5
	Summer 2003	BRYCS '03	Two of the top ten places in the 10-12 and all six places from 3rd to 8th in the 13-15 category in London and SE. Two national finalists. One 13-15 category finishing 9th and one 10-12 category finishing 3rd.	9
	February 2004	SIBL Cup	6th in the Male Open. All places from 2nd to 6th in the Male Junior.	9
	Winter 2003/2004	SIBL 03/04	Six of the top ten places in the male junior category including first and third and third in the male open.	15
	Early 2004	BICC 03/04	Five pupils competed at all three rounds of the British Indoor Climbing Championships in Liverpool, Sunderland and Edinburgh. Highest placing; 9th.	5
	Summer 2004	BRYCS '04	London and SE: Six of the top seven places in the boys 13-15 category including first. Fifth, sixth and seventh in the boys 10-12 category. Two national finalists finishing 4th and 17th.	9
	Winter 2004	BICC 04/05	National Junior Male rankings: 4, 8, 13, 16 and 24. National Youth Male ranking: 9. Senior Male ranking: 19	6
	Early 2005	BBC 04/05	National Youth Male ranking: 2 National Junior Male rankings: 2, 3, 8, 12 and 17.	6
	Spring 2005	BRYCS '05	London and SE: First, second, fifth and sixth in the boys 13-15 category. Fourth, sixth and seventh in the boys 10-12 Two national finalists finishing 3rd and 6th.	7
	Summer 2005	WYC	Youth A Category (Lead Discipline) in Beijing, China: 39th	1
	Autumn 2005	BICC 05/06	National Junior Male rankings: 9 and 14. National Youth Male ranking: 3, 4, 6. Senior Male ranking: 14 and 20	5
	Winter 2005/2006	BBC 05/06	National Junior Male rankings: 3, 6 and 17. Senior Male ranking: 10, 39 and 44	6
	Spring 2006	BRYCS '06	London and SE: First, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and thirteenth in the boys 13-15 category. Second in the boys 10-12 category. Two national finalists finishing fourth and seventh.	7
	May 2006	EYC	Youth A Category (Lead Discipline) in Imst, Austria: 29th	1
	August 2006	WYC	Youth A Category (Lead Discipline) in Imst, Austria: 57th	1
	November 2006	EYC	Youth A Category (Lead Discipline) in Kranj, Slovenia: 17th	1
	January 2007	YICC (London)	Champion in 10-12 yrs. Champion and third in 16-17 yrs. 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th in 13-15 yrs	7
	February 2007	YIBC (London)	Champion in 16-17 yrs. Third, 7th, 10th and 13th in 13-15 yrs	5
	Winter 2006/2007	SIBL 06/07	Champion and 5th in Male Open category.	6
	Spring 2007	BRYCS '07	London and SE: First, fifth, sixth and eighth in the boys 13-15 category. First in the boys 10-12 category. Two national finalists.	5
	Tony Musselbrook became a member of the British Junior Climbing Team in January 2005 He joined the Senior British Bouldering Team and Senior British Leading Team in January 2007

I have been very happy to allow our pupils to put so much effort and time into their competition climbing. They have become a popular and respected group at events. Their outdoor climbing has been enhanced by the training they do and the friends and contacts they have made at competitions. Mark Alderson In Charge of Outdoor Education	Competing in the final round of the London and SE BRYCS - September 2003
Year 9 trip to the Kent Mountain Centre - November 2003