Windermere School Shines at the Round Square Adventure Race 2025

Over the weekend, a team of Year 9 and 10 pupils from Windermere School took part in the annual Round Square Adventure Race, a unique and challenging event that brings together pupils from Round Square schools for two days of adventure.

This year’s race was hosted by Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, which shares organisational responsibility for the event along with Windermere and Abbotsholme schools. The host duties rotate annually—last year, the event was run by Abbotsholme, and next year, Windermere will have the honour of organising the 2026 event.

Four schools participated this year: Gordonstoun, Windermere, Abbotsholme, and Box Hill School. Each team consisted of six pupils, with a required balance of at least two girls and two boys, all from Years 9 and 10. True to the adventurous spirit of the event, pupils camped out and organised their own meals throughout the weekend.

The Windermere team arrived on Friday evening, enjoying chips on the beach at Hopeman before heading to Gordonstoun for a pupil briefing at 8pm. The next morning began with a 7am wake-up and an 8am event briefing before the first activity kicked off: a 2.2km run followed by a Tyrolean traverse and team problem-solving challenge.

The rest of the day’s events included:

• A 1.5km run to a climbing session on the sea cliffs at Cummingstone Crag

• An open water sea swim at Hopeman, battling through waves in a relay race

• A 90-minute cross-country challenge, combining running and mountain biking loops

• After dinner and a brief rest at the campsite, pupils were back in action for a night orienteering challenge in the forest—90 minutes of navigation and strategy in the dark, working in pairs

Sunday began with a bus ride to Ben Rinnes, a local Corbett, for a mountain run that tested the endurance and teamwork of all six pupils together. After completing this final challenge, the teams returned to Gordonstoun for lunch and the prize-giving ceremony, led by the Head of Gordonstoun.

Windermere achieved a well-deserved second place overall, taking first place in both the climbing and orienteering events. The overall winners were the host team from Gordonstoun, who put in an outstanding performance throughout.

Beyond the competition, the event captured the true spirit of the Round Square ethos—collaboration, courage and internationalism. Pupils formed strong connections, bonded over shared challenges, and left with new friendships that now live on in WhatsApp groups. There were heartwarming moments of mutual support, the pupils all respected each other’s talents, applauding each other when they truly pushed themselves, not necessarily winning. It was lovely to see. That in itself is as important as the event, possibly more so!

Windermere School is an Independent Boarding and Day School for ages 3-18, across Junior School, Senior School and Sixth Form. The school offers holiday courses and a summer school programme, as well as short term immersion courses for international pupils, as well as an award winning IB programme. Join the adventure today >