Year 11 Venture to Wales on Geography Trip!
By Ishita N, Year 11 Journalist Leader
The Year 11 Geography students were lucky enough to escape to Wales for a weekend, getting stuck in with fieldwork and studying beautiful landscapes to prepare for our upcoming GCSEs.
The group was raring to go as we left on the coach to our accommodation at Margam Discovery Centre, situated right next to Margam Castle and surrounded with stunning wildlife. We got to work straight away on the first day, getting to know our new teachers for the trip and visiting Newton Beach to study coastal erosion. Despite the wet weather, we got plenty of work done and got our first look at Port Talbot. We had never done practical work for geography before, so learning how the data we study is collected and compiled was eye-opening and put our previous studies into context.
On our second day, we visited the famous capital city, Cardiff, and witnessed first-hand the results of the impressive regeneration project. We loved going around Mermaid Quay and completing surveys with passersby, and the sunny day was a stark contrast to the distant beach we had visited the day before. After learning about the history and development of Cardiff in the classroom, visiting the city really solidified our understanding of how it has changed and improved over time.
The rain did return on the third day but it didn’t dampen our spirits as we trooped to a local river. We managed to make the most of our last day in Wales and even got to stand in the middle of the river when analysing rocks and measuring water speeds. Everyone got involved and it was great fun walking through the river and getting to admire all the forest around us. As a reward for all our hard work, our teachers took us to a gift shop and we enjoyed some hot chocolate, ending the trip on a great note.
Our studies and practice have made us much more confident in approaching our Geography GCSE and we have no doubt that these newfound skills will come in handy when exam season comes around. Thank you so much to the teachers for organising this trip for us!
