GEOGRAPHY Geography is one of the best–placed subjects for inspiring learning outside the classroom. Fieldwork plays an integral role in our discipline, not only to enhance GCSE or A-Level learning, but also to instil a sense of awe and wonder, and gain an appreciation of the natural, social and cultural diversity of the world around us.
In their first term at Dulwich, all Year 7 classes spend a week at the College’s Outdoor Centre in the Brecon Beacons National Park, where they learn about limestone landscapes and rivers, whilst practising Ordnance Survey map–reading skills. This year, the boys got to experience dramatic underground limestone features through caving. They crawled through tiny water–carved passageways and saw stalagmite and stalactite formations. Over the past few years, the Geography Department has run popular expeditions across the range of year groups, including to destinations such as Costa Rica (2007), Iceland (2009), South West USA (2010) and Jordan & Israel (2012). Our most recent trip took 29 boys on an action-packed 10–day expedition, with highlights including a jeep safari through Wadi Rum desert, a Bedouin overnight camping experience, a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Petra and swimming (or floating) in the Dead Sea. The Geography Society has branches throughout the College. In the Lower School, called Geo-Explorers, it is open to all boys in Years 7 and 8 who want to explore the subject in an interactive way, whilst helping them to further develop their geographical skills. Activities have included building and erupting
volcanoes, constructing coral reefs from pasta, debates on current issues such as global warming and designing geographical games and quizzes. ‘Geo-Explorers has been extremely interesting and I have learned loads. It really helped me in my Geography test as well!’ Orlando Firth, Year 7 In the Middle and Upper School, the Geography Society makes the boys aware of how important Geography is in the real world, and we encourage Year 12 and 13 boys to become involved in running the society.
Geo-Explorers presenting volcanoes at end of term assembly.
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