Our year 11 geographers swapped their textbooks for walking boots in October as they headed to North Wales to explore the landscapes shaped by ice and discover the opportunities and challenges of rural environments.
Mr Dudley writes:
A field trip to Nant Ffrancon and the picturesque village of Betws-y-Coed was an opportunity for year 11 GCSE geography students to bring their classroom learning to life.
The trip was designed to help students see first-hand the physical and human geography they have been studying in lessons.
Living in the relatively flat Wirral landscape, it can be difficult to imagine the enormous power of glaciers and the dramatic landscapes they create.
In fact, this was something students had highlighted in their curriculum reviews, giving the geography department the perfect opportunity to take learning beyond the classroom.
We left Ridgeway straight after registration and travelled to the spectacular Nant Ffrancon valley in Snowdonia (Eryri). From there, students explored the landscape around Cwm Idwal, a famous glacial corrie containing a beautiful lake (known as a tarn).
Shaped by glacial processes during the last Ice Age, more than 20,000 years ago, this landscape provided the perfect outdoor classroom. Despite some windy conditions, students enthusiastically explored the area, identifying the physical features and processes responsible for shaping the valley.
One of the highlights was discovering scratch marks on exposed rocks. These provided real-world evidence of abrasion – the process by which rocks and sediment carried by moving ice scrape and grind against the underlying landscape.
Seeing these features up close helped students connect geographical theory with the evidence in front of them. One student’s comment summed up the experience perfectly: “It’s better than on a computer game!”
After exploring the glaciated landscape, we headed to Betws-y-Coed, a popular rural village nestled in the heart of Snowdonia (Eryri). It has “a distinctly Alpine feel enhanced by the dense Gwydyr Forest that surrounds the village”, according to its official website.
Here, students investigated how rural environments create both opportunities and challenges for the people who live and work in them.
From tourism and local businesses to the pressures of attracting visitors to a rural community, the village provided a valuable real-world case study for our GCSE course.
Of course, no successful geography field trip would be complete without a lunch stop! Students enjoyed a well-deserved break, including a visit to the village’s award-winning fish and chip shop, before we climbed back aboard the minibus for the journey back to the Wirral.
We arrived back at Ridgeway tired but full of new experiences and geographical knowledge.
To see lots of fantastic photos from this field trip and to read lots more stories like this, check out our school magazine, Ridgeway New Times.
