GEOGRAPHY Over the past few years the Geography department has run popular expeditions across the range of year groups to destinations including Costa Rica (2007), southwest USA (2010), Jordan & Israel (2012) and Nepal (2014). Our most recent expedition was a ‘physical geography-filled’ trip to Sicily, which began with a visit to extensive columnar basalt lava flows off the north- east coast of Sicily , that have eroded into distinctive coastal caves, arches and stacks. Boys then took a cable car, 4x4 and final trek to the top of smoking Mt Etna, where they were able to experience the scale of the volcano and its caldera complex. After the descent, boys had time to explore the vast lava fields of Piano dell’Acqua, that were created by the 1992 eruption.
‘It was super-interesting to see all the lava flows and how they record eruptions from different centuries. Lava creates such different landscapes and it is fascinating to see how each eruption superimposed itself on top of the next.’ Jacob Page and Nathan Sparkes, Year 11 A four-hour hike to the top of Vulcano gave the boys a spectacular view of the Tyrrhenian sea and the surrounding seven volcanic islands. ‘Active fumaroles and the smell of sulphur brought home the fact that this volcano is a sleeping giant.’ William Brilliant, Ivan Chernyshov, James Olsen and Matias Cruz-Parodi, Year 10
Years 7-9 studying crevasses and glacier flow at Sólheimajökull glacier, Iceland, July 2016.
‘Trekking in the Annapurna mountain range of central Nepal was an amazing opportunity; I enjoyed the physical challenge, learnt a lot about a diverse range of geographical environments and was inspired by the generosity and spirit of the Nepalese people.’ Kavi Gilani, Year 13 A Lower School trip to Iceland takes place every two years and our most recent Middle/Upper School trip to Sicily (2016) was a great success.
Winners of the Foundation Schools’ Geography Quiz.
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