This half term has seen Year 1 A-level Geography students embark on two trips to explore themes learnt in their Changing Places module.
The first trip was a local visit, during their lesson’s students headed out into Cirencester to explore the concept of place, and collect first-hand data on Cirencester’s unique characteristics. This was a great opportunity for students to practise fieldwork skills they’d been learning in class.
Next was a two-day trip into South Wales to further their fieldwork and experience geography in real-life situations. 93 students from both the Physical Geography and Human Geography pathway were taken to the Big Pit, one of the last underground coal mines you can go down. This gave students an insight to the reality of working in the coal industry and the impacts of the mine’s closure.
Their second stop was to Ebbw Vale, where the students looked at the impacts of deindustrialisation and EU money on the town. This was followed by a trip into Cardiff to gain an understanding of how the retail sector has been affected by the pandemic.
Human Geography student Josh Keane said “The trip was an incredible opportunity for us to interact with people’s real- life experiences at the Big Pit, and it was good to put what we had learned in class into practise”
Course team leader Thomas Seale said “It was great to take our year ones out to give them an immersive experience of the geography we are studying at present”
For more information on this story contact chloe.suter@cirencester.ac.uk
