APS News 29

abingdon.org.uk/prep 5 AbingdonPrep Trips Year 8 Dorset Field Trip Blessed with glorious weather, the boys could see with their own eyes the features they had investigated through maps, diagrams and photographs back at school. The first day took in Durdle Door, Stair Hole and Lulworth Cove, with lunch on the beach. Following a short hop by coach to Swanage via Corfe Castle, the boys were then thoroughly briefed on various aspects of oceanography, weather and climate, maritime and coastal hazards, and the network of mostly voluntary organisations that help us to stay safe at and next to the sea. There was nothing that Stuart, our excellent guide from the National Coastwatch Station at Peveril Point, did not know about the surrounding coast and ocean floor. The next day we walked along the beaches of Swanage Bay, investigating the various defences designed to protect the town and land behind. As we climbed up and over Ballard Down, the panoramic vistas across Studland and Bournemouth Bays, right across to the Isle of Wight, came into view, giving ample opportunities to see and enjoy Old Harry Rocks and the Pinnacles up close. After a well earned picnic lunch at Middle Beach, and a brief study of dune succession across Studland Beach and Nature Reserve, the boys were finally allowed to dip their toes in the English Channel and enjoy some time in the sand before we headed back, glowing with sunshine, good memories and, I hope, enhanced knowledge of a key unit of their AP+ geography curriculum. I know the boys will thank the staff who accompanied them – Anne, Kyle and Liam – for their great support. Stefan Gerrard. Year 5 visit the Black Country Museum Year 5 pupils visited the Black Country Living Museum, near Dudley, in support of their history lessons in which they are investigating how life for Victorian children changed over time. The boys had lessons in the schoolroom with the very strict teacher! They experienced childrens’ pasttimes and visited a selection of shops and houses to find out all about life in the Victorian era.