2 minute read
A Level Geology
Class of 2021! Luke Edenborough, Alex Barker, Mrs Hafsa Garcia, Esme Kelly, Scarlett Sprague
It was with mixed emotions that we said goodbye this year to our last class of A level Geologists. Mrs Garcia, who has helped to deliver the course over the past two years, says: “Geology was a new subject to me when I started at PGS and it was a lot of hard work updating my subject knowledge, but I’ve come to realise what an important subject it is, and I have absolutely loved teaching it, especially because we’ve had such brilliant pupils!”
Although our fieldwork plans over the last year had to be cancelled thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, we were able to fit in a last-minute Geology tour of Old Portsmouth before our last class of pupils left. Dr Catherine Mottram, a senior lecturer and structural geologist, kindly joined us from
the University of Portsmouth. She revealed some of the geological mysteries of the Hotwalls, and talked to us about the importance of Geology - after all, without geologists we’d have no modern technology! We identified igneous minerals in the steps, examined trace fossils in the limestone paving and learnt how the shingle on our unique beaches formed millions of years ago by ancient sea creatures. Esme promised on the way back that she would be explaining to all her friends when she visits the beach over the summer where all the pebbles come from!
Many of our pupils have gone on to study Geology or a related subject at university. John Taylor, who achieved an A* in Geology last year, has just completed his first year in Civil Engineering at University of Bath. He
comments that , “A-Level Geology at PGS was a very useful subject for the course. The geology module in first year was just the basics of the A-Level course, giving me a massive head-start over everyone else”.
This year we had pupils gaining offers to study Archaeology, Forensic Science and Wildlife Conservation and one of our pupils, Scarlett Spague, has been offered a scholarship by Imperial College London to study for an MSci in Geophysics. She explains why she chose the course at PGS and how it has shaped her future: “My choice to study the Geology A-Level was based on my passion for mountaineering as I wanted to know more about the origin of the rocks I was climbing on. I now realise that geology is so much more than just rocks. It’s asteroids, dinosaurs, dangerous geohazards, and engineering dams! I am super excited for my future job opportunities afterwards; in particular I am interested in abseiling down active volcanoes to collect lava samples!”
Hafsa Garcia
