As part of their Geography lessons, students take part in a variety of practical field trips to study topics directly relating to their classroom learning. This boosts their understanding by giving real life context to their learning.

During a unit of study on urban regeneration, Year 9 students completed fieldwork to collect data on urbanisation to analyse how this has impacted Bishop Auckland town centre. Students then moved on to look at what was being done to improve the town. They looked at the Auckland Project, Kynren, the introduction of new Christmas markets and the new light trail, Aglow which students were lucky enough to visit, and they considered how all of these events draw tourists to the town, therefore improving the local economy as well as providing new job opportunities.

Year 9 students also visited Newcastle University, where they experienced a Geography lecture, learned about potential careers in the field, and enjoyed a campus tour of the facilities and accommodation. The trip was designed to raise aspirations and encourage our young people to think about studying a Degree in Geography in the future.

Year 7 students enjoy out of the classroom learning throughout the year in lessons to teach them how to use geographical fieldwork equipment to accurately collect data. To do this they study ecosystems and are introduced to some of the causes of flooding.

Students in all year groups enjoy opportunities to take part in creative learning tasks including building squatter settlements using scrap materials, and earthquake-proof structures using designs that are inspired by how buildings are constructed in places of tectonic activity. They also build rainforests using their knowledge on the layers of rainforest and plant and animal adaptations.