Onwards and Upwards: 3 New Mountain Leaders for LP’s DofE!

Three of our intrepid Duke of Edinburgh Award co-curricular programme leaders have just become even more adventurous! Maths teachers, Duncan Laurie-Pile and Theresa McConalogue, and Head of Politics, Richard Duckett, tackled the challenge of becoming Mountain Leaders and are now certified to train and supervise our DofE students on their Gold Award expeditions.

Theresa enthused: “It was a tremendous personal achievement which I know wouldn’t have happened without the support and encouragement of people around me. Through the journey I have learned so much. It’s always a privilege to be able to see and support students in the outdoors and the DofE programme provides a wonderful vehicle for this, in addition to many other valuable life skills. I’m very excited about the future of outdoor education at LP and in playing a part in it.”

Mountain Training is the network of awarding organisations for skills courses and qualifications in walking, climbing and mountaineering that operates across the UK and Republic of Ireland. They set the standards for leadership, instructing and coaching qualifications, and skills training courses ensuring that Mountain Leaders are proficient at managing group expeditions safely across difficult terrains at altitude.

The 2025-26 DofE Gold Award cohort is the largest group of Gold Award participants that the school has ever had and we are delighted to celebrate Duncan, Theresa and Richard’s success in supporting the group’s ambitions. Lower down the school we also provide the Bronze DofE as a compulsory activity for Year 9s with a summertime expedition during Activities Duo in June.  Our Silver Award programme is an option in Years 10 and 11 through the co-curricular programme building on the expedition skills and stamina acquired through Bronze.

The newly qualified Mountain Leaders are also able to lead and co-lead more adventurous trips and visits to Europe with Theresa wasting no time in heading over to Chamonix for a few days of snowshoeing in the French Alps with our senior students and our Outdoor Education Manager, Isaac Walker.