From Friday the 11^th to Monday the 14^th of March, our year 12 Geography class went on a fascinating and informative trip to Swanage, Dorset, learning about the physical and human geography there, as well as having a great time! While in Dorset we came up with our NEA (Non-examined assessment (big project)) titles, and collected data to help our investigations - an exciting opportunity for us to put Geography into action. 

We started by driving down to Poundbury, Dorset, in order to learn about some key human fieldwork techniques. Poundbury as a town was the brainchild of Prince Charles, who wanted to create a town which both promoted sustainability and felt like a historical English town. We found this intriguing, but also a bit disconcerting as everything looked historical, but construction on Poundbury only started in 1993! Lois and Evie even went back to Poundbury to carry out their NEAs, investigating sustainability and inequalities in Poundbury.  

After this we went to Leeson house, where we stayed for the duration of our visit. As a gorgeous country house set in 7 acres of Woodland, it was the perfect place for us to learn about the Geography of the area. Of course, the food there was also a highlight (especially the desserts). 

On Saturday we went to Studland beach to investigate the sand dunes. It was interesting investigating the plant life on the dunes and seeing the stages of dune succession in person, however it was very windy and cold, so we were all quite happy to be back in the warm. After this, we went to Swanage beach to measure the impact of the Coastal defences there - Jess in particular got quite wet after being caught out by a wave while measuring groynes!  

On Saturday evening we each came up with our own NEA questions, and planned out our data collection for the next day, then on Sunday we went off in groups to collect data for our chosen questions, investigating everything from quality of life, to the effectiveness of coastal management. One of the highlights for me was exploring Swanage, and seeing more of the town beyond the seafront. It was certainly a team effort to collect everyone’s data, and at the end of the day we celebrated Inayah’s birthday with a caterpillar cake - definitely a highlight! 

To top off the trip we visited Lulworth Cove and Durdledoor - once we had overcome the particularly steep hill the views were incredible, and it was amazing to see the coastal landscapes we’d learned so much about in lessons in person! We learned about the fascinating geology of the area, which was partly formed by tectonic activity over 100 million years ago! In Lulworth Cove we also caught a rare glimpse of a seal in the cove, and practised our stone-skimming skills. 

Overall, we had a great time and learned a lot about the geography of the area, as well as making loads of great memories!