One of the department's strengths is its provision of fieldwork opportunities throughout the school. Not only are these good social occasions, but they provide an invaluable opportunity to learn about the environment at first hand. In any one year, the department will organise up to 6 day visits and 4 residential fieldcourses in many different parts of the British Isles. The school is fortunate in being located at the hub of the country's road network allowing the students access to some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK within just a few short hours.

The brief resume which follows will give a flavour of the sort of fieldwork undertaken by the students and the breadth of geographical experience which they receive at Northamptonshire Grammar School. The safety of pupils on all visits is of paramount importance. The department has in place extensive and regularly reviewed policies on fieldwork in terms of organisation, planning and formal risk assessment. These documents, including the formal risk assessments for annual field visits, are available online here. If you require a Consent Form for any particular visit, please download one from here.

Year 7 - Trip to Dovedale, Derbyshire

This is the first experience that students have of the real geography 'laboratory'. The trip combines opportunities to learn about limestone erosion, rivers, water supply and geology, with some scrambling and hillwalking. The landscape of Dovedale is striking and students have no problems in discerning V-shaped valleys, interlocking spurs, meanders, caves, natural arches, scree slopes and many more features. The photograph shows some of the year 7 students having reached the summit of Thorpe Cloud on a recent trip to Dovedale.

Year 8 - Trip to Hathersage and Castleton, Derbyshire

Again the mix of fun and learning is the primary objective of this trip. The students are confronted with the weirdly worn gritstone 'tors' of the Pennines (which obviously have to be climbed!), and are given opportunity to see how geology exerts an influence on the form of the physical and human landscape. A trip down Treak Cliff Cavern is obligatory to view some of the Peak's best examples of stalagmites and stalactites.

Year 9 - Trip to the North Norfolk coast

Having spent the previous two years studying the upland landscape of the Pennines, the students are presented with a contrast in the flat plains of the Cambridgeshire Fens, and the windswept Norfolk coastline. The fieldwork on this trip encourages the students to be more perceptive and to recognise the strong links between physical environment and human activity. For the first time, the students undertake a small investigation on the shingle bank of Blakeney Point requiring them to record data in the field and to test an hypothesis. A foretaste of the more problem-solving fieldwork to come at GCSE.

Year 10 - Edale & Castleton

The fieldwork in year 10 provides the students with an opportunity to master some of the important skills in readiness for completing assessed coursework at the beginning of Year 11. During this day visit to the Peak District, the students undertake a small-scale river study in Grindsbrook in Edale comparing the channel characteristics of a headwater and tributary stream as well as completing a study of Castleton's dependence on tourism. The trip focuses on primary data collection techniques in physical and human geography.

Year 11 - Residential Fieldcourse, Swanage, Dorset

The main GCSE fieldcourse provides a complete package of 3 days tuition in fieldwork techniques and 1 day which allows for students to conduct their own independent investigations on a theme approved by the exam board. The base is Swanage Youth Hostel overlooking the Purbeck coast which provides classroom and library facilities for the students as well as full board accommodation. A range of sites are chosen for fieldwork including Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, the River Piddle, Swanage Bay, West Bay, Chesil Beach, Studland and Godlingston Heath.

Lower Sixth - Peak District

Fieldwork in the Lower Sixth focus begins in the Spring term with a visit to Grinds Brook in Edale. The pupils complete an investigation into geomorphological processes past and present that have help to shape the landscape. Data collection exercises include a study of hydrological change downstream in Grinds Brook itself as well as measurements of drainage network properties based on the Strahler system. Follow-up from the day includes the completion of a small personal study as preparation for the Geographical Techniques exam in June.

Lower Sixth - Isle of Arran

The main residential trip for Sixth Form geographers is to Lochranza Field Studies Centre on the Isle of Arran. The trip provides opportunities to study different aspects of the island's physical geography including glaciation, fluvial geomorphology, coastal landscapes, soils and ecology, and geology. Investigative work in human geography is completed as preparation for the Geographical Techniques exam. The journey to Arran is traditionally broken with an overnight stop at Malham in the Yorkshire Dales allowing the students to undertake additional fieldwork at Malham Cove focusing on dry valleys and limestone pavements.

Upper Sixth - Snowdonia 1 & 2

The students final experience of fieldwork is intended to support aspects of the Edexcel A2 specification. Two weekend visits are made to the Nantlle valley to study mountain meteorology on the first occasion and then secondly glaciation. Meteorology topics focus on valley side lapse rates, the effect of a lake on local climate, katabatic and anabatic winds; whereas the glaciation comprises a detailed study of Cwm Idwal and Nant Ffrancon.