In March, our 11s made the most of their first geography field trip to River Tillingbourne and also enjoyed a talk given by Carole Fuchs, a climber who reached the summit of by Mount Everest
The day that they spend on the banks of the River Tillingbourne each spring is an important educational coming of age for our 11s geographers, marking as it does their first real experience of proper research ‘in the field’.
After a briefing from experts at the Juniper Hall centre, our year 7s and all Harrodian’s Geography teachers embarked on a bus ride that took them to three different spots along the course of the river where they stop off to measure and record changes in the Tillingbourne’s width, depth and velocity using equipment such as tape measures, metre ruler sticks, stop watches and corks as it flows down to its confluence with the River Wey.
See more pictures in our Tillingbourne Trip gallery
It was a grey and drizzly day but pupils were not to be daunted by gloomy weather from making the most of their first proper field trip. They enjoyed working in small groups together and some of the highlights of the trip for them included getting in the river in their wellies, seeing an oxbow lake which had dried up and formed a meander scar, and collecting data using geographical equipment.
It made for a day that combined a productive learning experience with some enjoyable messing about on the river that was thoroughly enjoyed by teachers and pupils alike. You can see more pictures by following the link to our gallery ( in purple, above).
Back at school, our 11s and geographers of all ages around school were invited to an online zoom talk by climber Carole Fuchs, friend of Geography teacher Ceri Ruzzi, who talked about her experience reaching the summit of Mount Everest, below.
Ms Ruzzi organised the talk as a way of marking Women's History Month and introduced her guest Carole by first telling her pupils all about the first woman to reach the top of Everest - Junko Tabei - in 1975, and the 741 women who have made it to the summit since!
All 11s Geography pupils were able to join the talk remotely at the same time during their Geography lessons and to listen to one another's questions in the Q&A at the end of Carole's talk. The questions they asked were varied and astute. Some asked about the training involved, what team is required, what other large mountains Carole has climbed, and why she thinks there are so many more men who have climbed Everest. They were all fascinated and inspired to hear how Carole is determined to climb Everest again, but without the help of oxygen for the last 200 metres.