Year 9 Geography excellence visit to the Royal Geographical Society

On Monday 14th November, those nominated as Excellence pupils by the Geography department were given the opportunity to go to the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in South Kensington for an event titled ‘Going Places with Geography.’

H

ere we attended talks about choosing Geography for GCSE, why geography is important and a session all about careers in geography. We learnt that there are a huge range of career opportunities available using skills learnt studying Geography, which can include working in the transport sector, Cartography (map-making) and urban planning. In the talk about choosing Geography for GCSE, we learnt all about the topics that you study in school, as well as about topical geographical issues and about fieldwork. Above all, we learnt that two of the most important skills for careers in Geography are teamwork and communication.

The RGS is the home of Geography in the UK – and we found the way it captures the history and story of Geography in its building, its artefacts and ancient maps really interesting. Outside the RGS there were statues of David Livingstone who explored Africa and Ernest Shackleton, the famous Antarctic explorer. We also got to visit the Map Room to see its huge model of Mount Everest, which was really impressive, and to learn about ancient world maps made in the 1600s.

All in all, our visit to the RGS was a really fun, educational and exciting trip! n

Ammar (9ND)

Spanish Word Challenge

During the week after the October half-term, the Spanish department ran a sponsored word challenge for all pupils in Year 7.

At the start of the year, they were given 100 words to learn, all part of their core vocabulary list. The pupils were also asked to seek sponsorship for their efforts, with all money raised going towards the School’s nominated charity. There were some fantastic performances, with over a quarter of pupils achieving 80% or above in the challenge. A special mention must go to Laksha (7CJC), Husain (7JEB), Nirvaan (7JEB), Aman (7JEB), Jeeya (7JHA) and Abbinaya (7JHA) who all scored 100%. The pupils enjoyed the event immensely and benefited from learning material that forms a key part of the Year 7 syllabus, while raising an impressive £1,250 for charity. n

Poetry Day

Excited students and staff gathered in the library on Thursday 6th October to celebrate National Poetry Day. Notably, this year’s theme was “The Environment” and budding poets from all year groups entered the competition, while enjoying a picnic lunch. Taking inspiration from the books and posters on display, pupils penned impressive entries in a very short space of time. Our congratulations go to all who entered and to first prize winner Ahwaan (11CCN) and runners-up Ania (7CCG) and Elsie (8AJM). n