TALES FROM THE RIVERBANK

Every year, GCSE students undertake a river fieldtrip to Dorking. It is a requirement that all students take part in one physical Geography trip to assist them when answering questions in the skills section of the Natural World Exam Paper which is worth 35% of the GCSE course. This involves a trip to a field study centre in Dorking, Juniper Hall. During the trip, students collect primary data on the width, depth, velocity, bed load size and gradient of the river Tillingbourne. The data is collected at a meander site and a straight site of the river.

Here's what some of our students had to say about the trip.

"I really enjoyed the field studies trip as it helped me understand the features of a river more. I feel that going into a river and taking certain measurements has helped me for the exam as it has given me a better understanding on how to measure the width, depth and velocity of the river channel"  Tia Mullins

"The fieldtrip helped me to gather more of an understanding on how the width, depth and velocity change across stream and down stream. Also, I learnt about the equipment needed to measure all of the aspects of a river and how to record the readings. I also learnt the importance of a field sketch and how it can be comparable to past and future field sketches."  Aaron Barnett

"The field studies trip helped me to understand what the cross profile of a river is like at a meander and a straight section and how to measure the width, depth and velocity of the River Tillingbourne.  Izzy Watmore