Ash Manor Blog

Geography Year 11 GCSE Residential Field Trip

An exciting component of studying Geography at GCSE is the opportunity to get out of the classroom and complete fieldwork.

For our Year 11 students at Ash Manor this September, this meant a residential trip to North Somerset to stay in the Field Studies Centre at Nettlecoombe Court and carry out surveys and assessments which they will then write about in their final exams in the summer.

Students were very lucky to stay at the specialised centre and benefit from the expertise of the staff. Parts of Nettlecoombe Court, a historic building, are over 400 years old and it is set in a stunning environment on the edge of Exmoor National Park. The centre provides specialist equipment, expert instructors and ensures our students maximise their time in the field building on their knowledge and gathering evidence for later analysis.  

Day one involved Human Geography fieldwork. Students carried out detailed environmental quality assessments which allowed them to record and then evaluate the success of urban regeneration projects in the market town of Taunton. This included rating the quality of housing, evaluating green spaces and local amenities and assessing noise and air pollution. The students applied themselves brilliantly and recorded some useful and insightful data.

Day two involved Physical Geography fieldwork. Buoyed on by the beautiful sunshine, our Geographers found themselves on the stunning five kilometre shingle ridge at Porlock Bay. As well as enjoying the great outdoors, their task was to test the hypothesis that physical processes will mean that the beach sediment (the pebbles) will be smaller and rounder at the Eastern end of the beach than at the Western end. They also had to profile and accurately measure the beach to establish if the size and gradient also changes along the shoreline.

 A lot of fun was had by students and staff alike. It was fantastic that students had the opportunity to engage in meaningful Geographical fieldwork, but it is also great to see our students interacting outside the classroom and enjoying different experiences at the start of what is an important GCSE year.

Thank you to Mr Roseveare, Mr Fishwick, Ms Speed, Mr Greensmith, Ms Taylor and Ms Gregory for accompanying the students.