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YEAR 8 FIELDWORK PROJECT

Every pupil in Year 8 is involved in a residential fieldwork course at Felixstowe in Suffolk.

The Dulwich groups take part in a coastal project which is based on the hypothesis, "Is Felixstowe in danger of falling into the sea?"

After our arrival at the cliff-top Waverley Hotel, the first session is spent in explaining the aims of the project and their safety implications. The group is then familiarised with the fieldwork equipment they will be using before setting out on the following day for three different sites along the beach.

The groups are involved in investigating beach profiles and compiling a sediment assessment survey in addition to making both groyne and coastal-protection surveys. Annotated field sketches are also made at two sites along the coast.

There is considerable north - south movement of longshore drift along the east coast of England and sediment from Felixstowe's beaches is being swept southwards where it accumulates in a natural spit called Landguard Point. The spit acts as a breakwater to Harwich Harbour and provides shelter for the U.K's. busiest container port.

After a hard day in the field, a swim is organised at the local leisure centre. Back at the hotel the raw data is analysed and a start is made at presenting it in diagramatic form. Written explanations of the fieldwork aims and methods are "roughed-out" and finally the children are asked to evaluate their findings and look for similarities and differences between the sites.

This continues into the third day during which the group walks southwards towards the spit to view the harbour activity. The group then travels back to Dulwich where they have four weeks in which to complete their projects.

Once completed and marked by myself, the finished work is sent onto each child's first choice senior school for moderation. It's important that the work is of good quality as fieldwork is worth 20% of the Common Entrance mark.

Peter Rogers
Head of Geography