Hengistbury Head Trips

Geography students in Year 10 investigated coastal change & conflict this week when they visited Hengistbury Head in Dorset. Part of their GCSE course requires them to consider the impact of coastal management on coastal processes & communities.

Two students have written a report of their trip

Ella 

"This week we embarked on a fieldtrip to sunny Hengistbury Head in Dorset to put our in-class learning of coastal management strategies to the test. The work we did will help us answer questions in the paper 2 GCSE exam so it was rather important! We started by measuring the beach profiles in small groups. Then we headed to Mudeford spit where we took some geographical sketches of the landscape. After a short walk back to the coach, we headed to our next location - Highcliffe Beach where we did some surveys to see how the coastal management strategy in place was affecting the local area. Of course, our day by the coast couldn't be complete without a trip to the ice cream parlour too!" 

Olly

"As part of our geography course we conducted fieldwork at Hengistbury Head, Mudeford Spit and Naish Farm. Throughout the day we conducted environmental quality surveys, viewing the costal erosion defences and approaches put in place. This included things like Rock Groynes, Gabions and Beach Nourishment. Along the beach we used ranging poles and clinometers to measure the overall gradient and the total width of the beach, this proved to be challenging at first, but we slowly got the hang of it. In addition to this we drew fieldwork sketches of the landscapes to use as a form of primary research too. Later in the afternoon we enjoyed lunch in the sun, on the sea front followed by some ice cream to finish! "  

It sounds like the students had a marvellous time and the weather was beautiful too!