Field studies work
River studies in the Lake District
The school places great emphasis on field work and the geography department jointly organises with the science department a week long field studies trip to the Lake District. This allows boys to see at first hand some of the physical features studied in the classroom and carry out experiments in an outdoor environment.
An account of the most recent trip by Kais, a Year 7 pupil.
As the Fourth Year stepped off the coach after a surprisingly short journey from London, they expected to have a lot of fun. Instead of the forecasted week of rain, we were gifted with sunny days and hardly any rain; this made all the activities even more enjoyable! To our surprise, the lessons were really fun as, after a short time in the classroom discussing the day's plan, you immediately got outside to do your activity; maybe you'll be standing in a fast-flowing river under the sun taking measurements, walking around Windermere interviewing people and counting cars for your tourism study, dipping you net into the pond in the hope of catching something interesting, or setting up your mammal traps. Every evening we would do one of the 4 activities: either paddling our way down a river in joined canoes, climbing ten metres into the air and then abseiling down or jumping off the tiny platform of the high tree pole, talking with your friends as you hike towards the top of a hill from which you can experience breathtaking 360º views of the surrounding beauty or sprinting around the centre searching for the right control point to stamp your card in orienteering. After our work and activities, we were treated with surprisingly good food and then we could use our common room to make a drink, play ping pong in the hope of becoming "king of the Court", play table football, listen to music from the juke box or, if you didn't wish to stay in the common room, you could go to the gym for a game of football. Every morning we could spend some money at the tuck shop and buy some chocolate or stationery. We all came back happy after a great week in the beautiful countryside!
