By Sofia B, Year 10 Journalist Lead

On the 8th and 10th of June 2026, ten Year 10s went on a climbing trip as part of our GCSE PE coursework footage. In PE GCSE each individual has to film three sports for their coursework. Many of us do a variety of different sports including netball, football, hockey, athletics (my three sports are athletics, netball and climbing) but only one of us had actually done climbing outside of school prior to this so we were all quite excited and a little bit nervous for both of these days. We arrived on Monday at the Castle Climbing Centre near Finsbury Park and were shocked to see how huge it was! 

We were then split into groups of 4 and 6 and had one instructor per group to help us throughout the day. Both instructors were very good throughout as they were able to explain the techniques we needed very simply and were able to help us when we were stuck at the top or were even a bit nervous about being that high up. 

First, we started with the basics on how to tie a figure of eight knot and being able to clip ourselves into our harnesses. Then we got into pairs and filmed one of the partners belaying the other partner climbing up the wall, also making sure we did safety checks at the start and kept communicating with each other throughout. Then after lunch we started to work on some bouldering videos. At first I struggled with bouldering as I was nervous to climb up the wall with less support than you get with the top rope, but luckily the instructors and my friends were very kind at showing me where I needed to put my foot if I got stuck and giving lots of encouragement as I climbed. 

Then on Wednesday we went back to the top ropes and started to get some footage of us climbing up harder, steeper climbs. The instructor had some good advice on making sure we started with the easier climbs and then slowly, working our way up to some of the harder ones. I was really happy with my progress as by the second day I had already managed to climb way steeper climbs than I had managed on Monday thanks to the instructors and my friends around me. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the climbing and would definitely recommend it to any future year groups taking PE GCSE who need another sport because the climbing centre made it very easy to be able to get the right footage, and they were very supportive throughout, making sure you never felt nervous about climbing too high. The group as a whole really enjoyed the experience, having learned new skills over the two days and would definitely recommend this as a sport for future groups doing PE GCSE.