Year 5 pupils at Newfield Park Primary Academy in Halesowen took their geography learning beyond the classroom during a fieldwork visit to Carding Mill Valley in Shropshire.
The children explored river features, identified key geographical characteristics of the landscape and carried out practical investigations in streams, giving them the opportunity to apply their classroom learning in the environment they had been studying.
The visit formed part of the Academy’s Excite, Explore, Excel (E3L) curriculum, which is delivered across the primary schools within Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust. The curriculum is designed to make connections between different areas of learning and give pupils opportunities to apply their knowledge and understanding in real-world contexts.
As part of E3L, pupils have been studying ‘Mountain High, River Low’, a geography-driven theme exploring how mountains are formed. This includes their influence on physical and human geography, and the location and significance of mountain ranges in the UK and around the world. The theme also examines the water cycle and the importance of mountains and rivers within it.
At Carding Mill Valley, pupils built on this learning through direct observation and fieldwork, exploring how rivers shape the landscape and developing a deeper understanding of the geographical processes they had studied in the classroom.
School Principal, Steve Payne, said: “Of course, we could teach children about rivers through worksheets and photographs, but when they are out in the landscape, looking at the flow, feeling the current and working out how the river has shaped it, the learning becomes much richer. We want our children to look closely, ask questions and have the confidence to apply what they have learned. Trips like this give them the opportunity to do exactly that.”
For Newfield Park Primary Academy, experiences like this are central in its approach to teaching, learning and how pupils develop their understanding. By giving children the opportunity to investigate places for themselves, test their ideas and apply what they have learned, the Academy aims to make learning meaningful while developing the curiosity, confidence and independence pupils need to make sense of the world around them.
