Part One The Highest Classroom on Earth

day privately at Windsor Castle. Now on BBC News, it's time for part

one of 'The Highest Classroom in the World' ` looking at the challenges

faced by one group of teenagers. And you can see the second part of the

programme at 4.30pm this afternoon. It is the challenge of a lifetime, a

trek towards the world's highest Mountain ` Everest.

I am sweating. For 11 British teenagers with

serious behavioural problems, this will be a gruelling physical test.

This has probably been the most tired I have been in my life.

They will have long days hiking and climbing and uncomfortable nights

high up in the mountains in extreme weather conditions.

I am absolutely freezing, I cannot take any more.

We have arrived at camp and are so cramped.

They will face the worst seasonal weather in the region for nearly 20

years. Some of them will have to deal with the added challenge of

altitude sickness. The weather has changed, altitude

has changed. Are these youngsters going to last

the course and will it help with their personal challenges back home?

These are children who find it difficult to cope with normal

classrooms. What lessons will they learn from the highest classroom on

earth? March 2013 and 32 pupils short

listed from 200 special schools in England and Wales are competing for

the chance to go to the Himalayas. The teenagers are about to take on

their first trial, to climb the highest mountain in Wales ` Snowdon.

They have all got challenges in their personal lives, with

behavioural and emotional difficulties.

I am a bit tired. The youngsters now have to show that

they will be able to cope with the extreme conditions they will face if

they make it to the 12 day trek in the Himalayas.

They will be walking up to nine hours a day amid difficult weather

conditions and at altitude. Eventually going up to more than

5,000 metres, that is five times higher than Snowdon.

I am glad I got up and everyone else did as well. Everyone put 100% in.

You are right. It is incredible.

The main purpose was not just to see the fitness levels of the

candidates. For me it was about their attitude and behaviour taking

on the challenge. At the beginning, there were a couple who straightaway

thought that they could not do this and had to dig deep. For me, this is

finding children with resilience. If they can take this on, they can

build up more resilience on the way to Everest base camp.

Three months later, the challenge is now to conquer three Welsh peaks in

24 hours. For those youngsters who get through, it is hoped the highest

classroom trek will be life`changing.

I think the greatest challenge will be the mental challenge,

particularly for young people who have experienced quite a lot of

difficulty and failure. We have got to show them that they can succeed

in something which is going to be very difficult. The trip is all

about building life skills. It will help them in all sorts of

situations. We will set it up, staff will monitor it, they have got to do

it. Finally, the youngsters have to show

they can match a head for heights with technical mountaineering skills

and work as part of a team. CHEERING.

That was fun! Are you OK, sir?

No problem. Each pupil will be accompanied by a

mentor and they also have to prove they can take on the challenge.

What are we doing next? That one.

Mentor, pupil! July and it is sports day at this

academy in Wiltshire, the school organising the challenge.

Time to find out which 11 pupils out of the 100 who originally applied

are going to the Himalayas. Among the winners is Dominic

Price`Santos, 13. They said that I have ADHD and that

I have anger problems and stuff like that. I have moved through eight

different primary schools because I could not cope in the classrooms and

used to get very angry and kick off. But it used to be the teachers who

always got in my face and would not leave me alone. It used to wind me

up even more. Jack, 15, was routinely excluded

from school from the age of six because of his extreme behaviour.

They have diagnosed me with Asperger's. My mum divorced my dad

when I was at an early age, five or six. That kind of disrupted me. I

guess that is sort of what brought it on as well.

I am feeling a little bit worried at the many miles that we are going to

be walking because that will take its toll on me, definitely. I am not

really Mr PE! It is all going to be a massive

challenge for me. Richard, 14, could not handle

mainstream school. He found staying in a classroom difficult and would

walk out of lessons. I think it was when I was about five

I was first diagnosed with Asperger's and ADHD.

I got angry in classrooms easily. I could not focus on many things and

for quite a while I was put on certain medications and all of these

cocktails of drugs. I just had moments where I thought the world

would be a better place and things would be happier without me in it.

Also in the team is George, 15. He spent time in the secure unit of a

psychiatric hospital at the age of 11 after a number of suicide

attempts. It is a mental health hospital and I

was on one of the younger units. Self harming, that was one of the

things. I was very depressed. He joined this academy four years

ago and has progressed to being head pupil. He still suffers from

obsessive`compulsive disorder and extremely high anxiety levels.

I think going to Nepal and going to Everest, I think that will help me

with my OCD because I will be focused on doing the walking, doing

this, and it might distract me from worrying as much as I would at home.

The highest classroom challenge follows on from the coldest

classroom in the Arctic and the hottest classroom in Tanzania.

16`year`old Calum Carter, who went on both of those expeditions, will

be joining the team in the Himalayas as a mentor.

The other programmes gave me a lot of self belief.

With ADHD you are very calm and then angry, so because I have been there

and done it, I will have an idea and incentive as to what the pupils are

going through. At last, day one of the highest

classroom on Earth. It is the 9th of October.

The team have flown from London and are now embarking on the final half

hour flight into a tiny airport nearly 2,900 metres up in the

Himalayas. It is a very short and steep landing

strip. The weather here can be hazardous. It has been called the

most dangerous airport in the world. APPLAUSE.

The flight got me especially nervous. I was seriously worrying

about this because I had heard a few bad things. But we got through it

alive. Luckily!

35 Sherpas are there to act as guides, cooks and porters for the

group on their trek. The highest classroom team also

includes sports and business mentors, who are there to inspire

the youngsters. They all set off for the four hour journey to camp,

contouring along the river. Today, they are treking to their camp.

The overall mission is to climb more than 2,600 metres.

There is a problem on the trail with a yak.

What happened is it went up here and started kicking like that. Right

now! Stop!

The yak has delayed the group and they arrived late into camp but it

is up early the next morning. How are you getting on?

The expedition leader is a former Royal Marines Commando who

successfully led the first British unassisted expedition to the North

Pole from Canada in 2000. He outlines the day ahead.

A really tough day, today. Eight hour day. But there is no reason why

we all cannot make this, all of us. We take it nice and easy. Respect

yourself, respect your team, respect where we are, the people, the

culture and country we are in, and together we can do this.

The trail is going to rise steeply, by about 700 metres, on the long,

hard nine`hour climb today to the regional Sherpa capital.

It is crazy, basically! I have seen bridges like this, like, in films

and TV. But I never expected to go on one myself. It is just so unsafe.

The going is tough for some but not for Dominic.

I find it really easy. I reckon the further we go on, it is going to get

a lot more challenging. I am enjoying it and meeting other people

and speaking to everyone. This has probably been the most

tired I have been in my life, really.

But I have got so far and... It can only get better from here. The only

way to cross the river is by a series of suspension bridges laden

with flags, each higher than the last, up to 100 metres above the

roaring waters below. I have never been so scared in my

life. I got halfway and I looked down and I started panicking. I

thought, that bridge is going to snap on me. I was convinced I was

going to fall off. 700 metres in one day is a big

altitude gain and the three doctors with the team are checking everyone

to make sure they are all right. It is about 85, that is good.

They are checking for altitude sickness, it is common and it can

affect anybody above 2500 metres particularly if you climb to

quickly. It is estimated between ten and Trinity 5% of people will be

affected but it is impossible to predict who `` 25%. It causes

headache and nausea and can be very serious or even fatal.

When we were coming into the village, I was finding it harder to

breathe. You could start feeling it. People have noticed they are

changing, they have got a headache, their legs of feeling heavy. They

have got to look after each other. It is day three, one of the sports

mentors, a former Thai boxing champion Rachel McKenzie, gives

everybody a morning work`out. I cannot do this! Today is going to be

an acclimatisation day with a short trek to get their first sight of

Everest. It is about 250 metres and it will take a good couple of hours

Chris of how steep it is. `` because of. And we have to come down to

acclimatise to people struggling with altitude sickness. But

14`year`old Baddeley Walter is in trouble. He is suffering from the

early signs of altitude sickness `` Radley. There is no option, he has

to go down. We have gained 100 metres since last night and his

breathing is not good, so as a sign of caution, we will rehydrate him.

The rest of the team continue, led by George, and they are rewarded

with spectacular views of Everest. You cannot see the peak of Everest.

It is covered by cloud. It is hard to describe. If you look down there,

from where we have come, we have walked that distance. It is amazing

everybody has made it. The fact that Everest is cloaked in cloud, could

this be a warning of what is to come?

Des four in the Himalayas and a former England rugby captain, Lewis

Moody, reads the warm up `` gamer `` des four. `` day.

Ahead is a tough five hour walk. Gaining about 600 metres in

altitude. The last three hours like walking up a never`ending set of

stairs. But when they get to the top, there

is a visit to a Buddhist monastery and time to play volleyball with the

monks and the locals. For Dominic, there has been a change in his

approach. Every day so far, I have been at the front and it is not

really a sprint, so I thought it would be a good day to walk with the

others and see how everyone is getting on generally and see if I

can help them. Whatever it you want to do with these children, you want

them to leave with the skills they can go on and succeed `` whatever

you want. Taking them to this sort of environment and getting them to

perform like they have is unbelievable. If they feel they

cannot cope, then normal strategy is to misbehave dashed the normal

strategy. Or to take themselves off and go into solitude, and we have

had none of that. At camp, there is an almost holiday atmosphere about

the team but this is about to change.

For the first time, the day starts cloudy. Jack is having problems. His

mental has work to do. `` mentor. He is feeling homesick, he has never

been away from his family this long, and he is anxious about the

altitude. We have to reassure him and encourage him, he is very strong

but he lacks the confidence to keep going.

As Jack joins the group, Richard says he is finding a new inner

strength. I think I have discovered many things about myself. About my

physical strength, my mental power, I have discovered I have got strong

willpower. But I do not like to boast!

It is good to see the students supporting each other. Callum has

been supporting me and I have been supporting the others. We know each

other now so we know if somebody is finding it difficult and say, you

are doing all right. October is considered the best time

for tracking on the Everest Trail. You might expect showers and snow,

but nothing like what was to come. One of the leaders is in trouble. He

appears to have a headache. He is not looking too good, whatever it

is. I have got a bit of a headache. Just have to keep drinking fluids.

Things have changed now, we have gone from sunny, rainy, to sleet and

snow. So the weather has changed, the altitude has changed, this is

very extreme. Eventually, everyone makes it. But arriving at camp,

there is a big problem. Snow is starting to settle and worse still,

the gear carried by the yaks, including the sleeping bags, is

absolutely soaking. No choice but to abandon attempts and find space in

the house for the team to sleep. `` the tents. It is the start of what

the shippers say is the worst storm in years and it does not bode well

for the rest of the trip. `` Sherpas. The next morning and the

team awakes to find everything under more than one foot of snow. No one

is going anywhere. Listen, obviously, there is a lot of detail

to take on board because of the weather. Things have changed. This

was our rest day anyway so the worst option is if the weather gets bad,

we go down, the worst`case scenario. Now the entire trip is at risk. They

decide to sit tight but they are worried about cabin fever, with the

youngsters being stuck inside. Time for the sports people to step in. We

played a game to get them engaged. You have to interact with people you

probably might not have interacted with before, to get their spirits

up. We are looking at what the young people can take away from this

experience. Not just the ability to physically walk up a mountain but

what that teaches you. The types of children in the schools, many of

them, until they come into the specialist schools, they probably

have never been told, you are amazing and you can achieve

anything. What we wanted to get was for them to recognise as a team that

the people around them and see that they have positive characteristics.

`` can see. George says the experience is already changing him.

One of my problems is OCD and at home when we go shopping, I will not

pick the stuff at the front, always the stuff at the back that is clean.

Out here, it is, here is that, take it. And I have done that and nothing

has happened. That is something I will take back. Things like that

that goal on in my life at home that will change from being out here ``

that go on. But the timetable for finishing is becoming tight and the

rate of ascent is at the other end of what is considered safe. The

forecast for the next couple of days is good but they may have left it

too late to complete their Himalayan challenge. I still think we can do

this and I believe we have the passion in the team and the drive to

do this. I have spoken to most of the students and they want to push

on. If the weather does not improve, Appleby and and that will be a

decision I will make and we will go down `` that will be a decision.

We find out next if they succeed in the push towards Everest.

A bank holiday Monday and it is dry and warm for most. Cloud across

Northern Ireland compared to yesterday, that will break with the

risk of a