The Kings’ Messenger

Year 12 Geography Fieldtrip to Slapton, DevonAt the end of March, 34 Year 12Geography students set off to theField Studies Centre in Slapton,Devon for a three-day residentialorganised to equip themwith the necessary fieldworkskills required for their Unit 2exam that they will shortly besitting this May.The first day was spent inPlymouth where students usedfieldwork observations toresearch housing and serviceprovision in three separate areas,and secondary data on ethnicity,age structure and employment tobuild up a detailed understandingof this environment and howpopulation change has impactedon the area. Students then returnedto the Field Studies Centre for a homecookedcurry and a follow-up session using an impressive Geographical InformationSystem to analyse their results.The next day, a cooked breakfast was followed by an hour’s briefing on how to carry out an investigation on changingchannel characteristics with distance downstream on the River Harbourne. Wellies and waterproofs went on readyfor a day in the field.The group headed toDartmoor NationalPark where studentsmeasured changingcharacteristicsdownstream andinvestigated theflood risk andmanagement of theRiver Harbourne.Although theweather was on ourside, the boggyfloodplain was not,with a few welliesgetting stuck in themud.Continuing thewatery theme, theGeographyDepartment also arrangedfor Bristol Water to come and speak to some GCSE classes about theproposed Cheddar Reservoir Two. A lunchtime drop-in session was available for allstudents to ask questions, and raised a lot of interest andopinion on the impacts it will bring to Cheddar. It wasalso chosen to be the focus for The Kings and QueensNews Team 2013 BBC School Report.Dr Andrew Newton also visited to speak to Geography A-Level classes about contrasting healthcare systems in theUK and India. Dr Newton has spent a lot of time in Indiaand shared some very thought-provoking images on itsquality of life. Students were gripped by his fascinatinginsights and it provided a detailed case study in preparationfor their exam topic “Health Issues”. Thank you fromus all to Dr Newton for his time and insights!