The month of June marks the Geographical Association’s National Festival of Fieldwork initiative, where teachers are encouraged to take their classes outside, whether in the school grounds, the local area or further afield. The Mougins Year 10 geographers have been very happy to be able to take part in the festival this week and to have the opportunity to travel to the beautiful Ardèche Gorge. They have been carrying out the essential fieldwork component of their IGCSE Geography exam preparation.  

The month of June marks the Geographical Association’s National Festival of Fieldwork initiative, where teachers are encouraged to take their classes outside, whether in the school grounds, the local area or further afield. The Mougins Year 10 geographers have been very happy to be able to take part in the festival this week and to have the opportunity to travel to the beautiful Ardeche Gorge. They have been carrying out the essential fieldwork component of their IGCSE Geography exam preparation.  

On Day 1 they visited the amazing Aven d’Orgnac limestone caverns to get a sense of the geology of this incredible landscape. They also had a classroom session to prepare them for the river fieldwork the next day.

Day 2 saw the geographers hiking to the sites where they would investigate how the River Ibie, a tributary of the Ardeche, changes downstream. They learned how to use various pieces of equipment, such as flowmeters, ranging poles, callipers and clinometers. They recorded the data they collected so that it could be analysed back in the classroom at the end of the day. This meant that they could draw conclusions to the hypotheses they had set at the start of the investigation. 

Day 3 saw the students investigating urban land use and the impacts of tourism on Vallon Pont d’Arc. It was market day in this beautiful town, so there were many people available to complete the students’ questionnaires and to be included in their pedestrian counts. The geographers also considered whether the large numbers of tourists present had affected the results of their environmental quality surveys. Back in the classroom, they learned different methods of presenting the quantitative and qualitative data they had collected.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip came on the final day, when everyone put on their helmets and life jackets to prepare for a kayaking trip down the Ardeche Gorge. The students successfully navigated the rapids and were able to observe at close quarters the fluvial landforms they had learned about in school. The scenery in the gorge was spectacular and this was a wonderful way to see it.

The students worked collaboratively in teams throughout the trip, upholding the Mougins School values at all times. The Adventure Ardeche team were impressed with the students’ behaviour, team spirit and attitude to learning, both outdoors and in the classroom. They were a real credit to our school community.

Fieldwork is an essential part of a geographical education as well as being a National Curriculum, GCSE and A-level requirement. It enables young people to develop their subject knowledge, gain a range of skills that are difficult to develop in the classroom and helps them to understand the ‘messiness’ of geographical reality. It has played an important role in the Geography experiences at our school for over 20 years. We have always been very proud of our geographers and this year’s group are no exception - well done Year 10!

A big thank you to the Adventure Ardeche team and especially to Ian Duffelen, our superb fieldwork tutor. Jane Barthelay and Darren Baron did a fantastic job of supporting our students on this trip too.

Rachel Warren
Head of Humanities