News & Events

Y11 Geography Fieldtrip

Year 11 Geography GCSE pupils took a trip up to the beach near Romney Marsh in Kent, with Ms Corner, Mr Pickering and Mrs Gower, to study their unit on UK Physical Geography. The data we collected will provide us with crucial case study information to help our learning for Physical Geography Paper 1 and also some practical fieldwork skills to enable us to complete Paper 3. We departed from school at around 8:10am and set off on our coach to Kent. The weather was very wet on our way there, but we approached it with a smile on our faces and our backs to the wind and rain. The weather did not affect the amount of fun we had.

After our two-and-a-half-hour journey on busy wet roads, we geared up with rain coats, clipboards and pens ready for the day. The beach was beautiful and natural. We were impressed by the wide sandy foreshore, the Stoney storm beach and a long line of dunes at the back. Suddenly our classroom learning was there and it all made sense! We made notes about the beach linked to our question ‘Does the sediment size increase with distance from the foreshore?  We had learned about the types of waves and their corresponding energy and how the beach was shaped and formed in many ways and how weather affected this, along with various coastal processes. We were able to use our knowledge and apply it practically.

We had booklets to write in throughout the course of the day and to record any ideas or findings. We were particularly efficient at working in teams to gather data on the size of the sediment, applying all our understanding of good geographical methods and sampling. We looked at sizes of rocks, reformed beaches and the formation of waves. Finally the sun came out just as we finished our data collection, so we gathered for a group photo and had an impromptu competition to see which class could throw and catch a tennis ball over long distances. Mr Pickering’s class won!

We even had the chance to go on a train at the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway, which was lots of fun! It was so cute to travel across the flat marshes in a miniature steam train.

Finally, we visited a beach at the village of Dymchurch and compared it to Romney sands. It was very interesting to note the differences. We then discussed how reliable our data would be, and each pupil had many ideas about this. Although the weather was grey when we arrived, the sun soon shone which reflected how well the day had gone and how much data we had collected, along with having fun. Dymchurch also serves particularly good fish and chips! Overall, we had a great time.

Demi, 11K