A-Level Geographers visit Constable Country!

The start of the new term saw Barclay’s Year 12 geographers meeting up with other Year 12 geographers from across the Trust to travel to rural Suffolk for the annual cross-trust geography enrichment residential. Having arrived at the Flatford Mill field study centre, the trip begun with an afternoon exploring the local area and gaining a sense of place. Students walked around the field study centre before racing each other (and the teachers!) to complete the orienteering course in and around Flatford Mill.

Some may have heard of Flatford Mill before as it’s very well-known for being the site of the famous ‘Hay Wain’ painting by John Constable.

Day 2 dawned crisp and bright with everyone excited for the day ahead. We started in the classrooms of Flatford Mill where we looked at the context of Ipswich and what we could investigate when visiting the regenerated Ipswich Waterfront area. With our preparation completed, it was out into the field. Although cold, it was a beautiful day down at the marina and all of our students threw themselves into an afternoon of data collection that included a land-use survey, Environmental Quality Surveys and, of course, some questionnaires- a geography fieldwork classic!

Back at Flatford Mill we warmed up with hot drinks and some free time before returning to the classroom to present our data using GIS. We learnt how to use ArcGIS and how we can layer our data onto a map to enable high-quality analysis.

Day 3 was the coldest yet and so everyone wrapped up warm before heading on the coach to Walton On The Naze. You’ll see us sporting lovely bright blue and red waterproof trousers and jackets in the photos! Here we investigated how the coastal management influences the natural processes and students took it in turns to try the different data collection methods at three different sites. Although very cold, students showed incredible resilience and threw themselves into their various different data collection roles.

Once finished it was time to head back to the coach and head back to Stevenage to make our way home. The trip was a resounding success and a great time was had by all. We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the staff who assisted with the planning by ensuring that we were able to secure transportation to and from Flatford Mill, ensuring that we had our first aid kit among other things. Thanks for making this trip a reality, and for the staff at the FSC Flatford Mill for facilitating a wonderful trip!