Year 8 pupils were treated to a guest speaker this week. Geographer, film maker and author Matt Dickinson came and talked to all of year 8. 

After finishing a degree in Geography Matt became a film maker with National Geographic, he has worked with famous people such as Bear Ghyrlls. Matt is widely travelled and has climbed to the summit of Everest. In fact, he was there in the famous Storm of 1996, where a number of climbers lost their lives. Matt has also travelled to Antarctica, where he had the first ascent of a mountain.

Matt makes his living as an author, speaker and film maker. He has written a number of books, for adults and also for Key stage 3. They are widely available in bookshops and online.  His aim is to get a Netflix series of one of his stories. 

It was an engaging talk and the pupils had a number of questions about his adventures. Pupils from the High School Leckhampton were also treated to this talk as part of our Multi Academy Trust.  If pupils want to know anymore about Matt his books are available in the library. 

Matt Dickinson asked for a pair of mountain boots for his tenth birthday and since that point he has never looked back! As an award winning film maker and writer he has lived a life of adventure, working extensively for National Geographic TV, Discovery Channel and the BBC. During his action packed career he has filmed on Everest’s summit (the first British film maker to do so and get back alive), in Antarctica, Greenland, Alaska, the Sahara Desert and on top of the highest live volcano in the world.‘The Death Zone’-- his account of the ascent of Everest’s North Face during one of the worst storms ever to hit the mountain has become a best seller in multiple territories around the world and is regarded as essential reading for all those who love mountain literature.

Matt has worked with some of the great characters from the world of adventure, including Bear Grylls and Brian Blessed. Along the way he has survived avalanche, a killer storm in the death zone and even a beaver attack in Alaska! In his popular events for schools he describes what motivates explorers to take risks in the extreme corners of the planet and brings alive the challenges faced by the people who live in the highest, coldest and most dangerous regions on earth.He visits about a hundred schools a year. Stunning pictures and video clips accompany his talks. He writes occasional travel articles for The Telegraph and The Guardian—mostly on the subject of Everest which he has returned to twice in recent years.

Recently Matt has been busy writing books to inspire a whole new generation of climbers and explorers. His teen/ya action series ‘Mortal Chaos’ was well received by young readers and critics alike and was followed by his Carnegie Medal nominated trilogy ‘The Everest Files’ and the multi-award winning thriller ‘Lie Kill Walk Away.’