This summer, the Geography Department supported several exciting competitions, beginning with the Geographical Association’s model-making competition, where students were invited to create models representing something of local geographical significance. Our winner, Maia, impressed everyone with her outstanding 2D model of the Cutty Sark.   

This summer marked the 9th year of our annual @BHSGeography Instagram Competition. Using the innovative location-based platform What3Words, which divides the world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares, each assigned a unique combination of three words, we invited students to capture a photo during their holiday and share the three-word code for their location. The submissions, showcasing a remarkable diversity of scenes from around the globe, were truly captivating. Each image offered a distinctive story about nature, people, and place. Congratulations to Ria, one of our GCSE Geographers, who won the competition with a stunning shot of a storm! (Find out where: ///perspective.deliberates.carry) 

In the Autumn Term, the Royal Geographical Society launched their 'Choose Geography' Competition. Now more than ever, geography is a vital subject to study, so we asked our Key Stage 3 students to design posters illustrating its importance and relevance. The response was fantastic, with an amazing variety of both hand-drawn and digitally designed posters. Selecting the winners was no easy task!

And the winners were: 

• Year 7 - Isla and Maria; Year 8 – Tilly, Jyotsana, Lucinda, Han Han, Chloe, Anna & Darcy; and for Year 9 – Lydia, Sara-Maya, Anaya, Freya, Daisy, Scarlett and Phoebe 

Later this half term, we also had a fabulous opportunity to take Sixth Form students to the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) for a lecture titled "The Changing City: Alternative Uses of Urban Space" by Professor Oli Mould, an urban geographer from Royal Holloway, University of London. The lecture provided fascinating insights into how urban spaces are being repurposed, as different groups explore creative, fun, political, and subversive ways to claim their 'right to the city.' We're excited to be able to offer more opportunities for students to attend lectures at the RGS in the future. 

We're also thrilled to announce a new competition for our Year 7 students, supported by the UK Polar Network. Our Year 7s will have the chance to design a flag for Antarctica! The top 14 entries will be taken to Antarctica by a researcher and photographed there, marking an incredible opportunity for our students to contribute to something truly extraordinary!