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Recently, Year 12 Geography students from Westminster City School enjoyed an action-packed 5-day residential trip to FSC Flatford Mill in Suffolk as part of their A-level course.

Taking their Geography learning beyond the classroom, students developed a range of important skills through conducting their own fieldwork investigations, exploring rural, urban and coastal locations to learn first-hand about how geographical processes shape the world that we live in. They also had the opportunity to design their own fieldwork methods and independently collect data for their NEA coursework investigations (worth 20% of their overall A-level Geography grade). This is all in addition to working collaboratively as a team, having fun with their peers and experiencing the natural world in the heart of the British countryside together.

The geographers began their visit with a walk along the River Stour, before exploring the idyllic rural village of Dedham and using a range of strategies to investigate the factors that can influence our sense of place. Students then spent a day at Walton-on-the-Naze, a dynamic stretch of coastline that has been shaped by the force of powerful destructive waves eroding the cliffs over time. Some of the students even found fossilised teeth of ancient shark species that had fallen onto the beach after being trapped in layers of rocks for thousands of years! The group then spent a day in the town of Ipswich, investigating the success of local efforts to breathe new life into a run-down area of derelict factories and warehouses as part of the Ipswich Waterfront Regeneration Project. Each evening, students took part in intense tutorial workshops to develop their analytical skills and used GIS mapping software to create their own digital maps and graphs to display their findings.

Miss Baulcomb, Senior Lead Practitioner and Teacher of A-level Geography at Westminster City School, said:

“I am immensely proud of our A-level Geographers, they have thrown themselves into the fieldwork wholeheartedly and have achieved so much in a short amount of time as a result. I have seen their confidence grow immeasurably throughout the week, they have shown excellent resilience, teamwork, leadership, problem-solving skills and compassion towards one another throughout. Learning outdoors in a practical way is a hugely important part of Geography; I love seeing that ‘lightbulb moment’ when theories we have studied in the classroom suddenly come to life before their eyes! It has been a real privilege to witness the transformational power of the residential experience on our Geographers. I would like to congratulate them all for their fantastic achievements, both personally and academically, and I want to thank them for their energy and boundless enthusiasm for our subject! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Sam from FSC Flatford Mill for being such an excellent tutor during the trip, his passion for Geography and local expertise really helped our students to make the most of their experience.”

The Year 12 students also enjoyed the experience. Viviana who is in Year 12 said:

“The FSC Flatford Mill opportunity allowed me to gain insight into the real geography world, carrying out data collection that is key to my coursework and plays a part in my A-level grade. The chance to spend 5 days in an area contrasting to London allowed me and my peers to wind down while still completing essential schoolwork. Having Miss Baulcomb and Miss Armatage there allowed us to have a familiar face to push us through tougher parts of the course, while still taking part in downtime in the evening, joining in on rounders as we played as a class. The experience overall brought about a sense of togetherness as a class, forming closer friendships and having a greater sense of gratitude for the teachers who planned the fieldtrip and came along on it.”

Mirabel in Year 12 also shared her experience, saying:

“Our 5-day Geography trip to Flatford Mill in Suffolk was honestly the best trip we’ve had so far. It was a huge help for our NEA, which is worth 20 percent of our A-level grade, and gave us the chance to collect solid fieldwork data while learning more outside the classroom. I focused more on the human geography side and got to explore Ipswich. I’ve never been there before so it was really interesting to see how different it is compared to London. Being in a new place made it easier to get into the project and I felt much more confident in my topic afterwards. Seeing things like groynes in real life made physical geography so much more engaging and helped me to understand it so much better. Even though we were there for academic reasons, we all had such a good time as a group too. We got closer as a class and made so many memories. One of the highlights was definitely the girls vs boys rounders game with Miss Baulcomb joining in. It was such a fun moment. Overall the trip was a great balance of learning and bonding. It made a massive difference to my understanding of the subject and was such a positive experience. I’d 100 percent recommend it for next year’s students.”