Year 7’s Expedition to Snowdonia

Last week our year 7 pupils travelled to the Snowdonia national park for a Geography field work week.

After a stop at their favourite cafe, YumYums, it was down to work learning about the coastal town of Criccieth and specifically the coastal defences that have been built there to protect it. Tuesday was spent at Criccieth itself doing the fieldwork and analysing the effectiveness of the different techniques.

Before their departure, the group looked at the local economy and main sources of income and thought it only right that they supported one of the businesses by purchasing lots of ice creams.

Wednesday morning saw Year 7 further immersed in the environment doing a study and sketch of river features and the benefit of the pupils doing this in the actual environment that they were studying was clear.

After lunch, the pupils learnt how to put up their tents and use cookers and it was then off to the campsite at the bottom of the Watkins path for the evening. The pupils cooked their own dinners and enjoyed some time around the campfire.

Things were taken to another level on Thursday when the group had to move camp early morning 2.5km further up the path to a wild campsite. They did this very well which meant that they were able to start on the trek to the summit of Snowdonia in good time.

It was a week of mixed weather but they struck lucky on this occasion and were rewarded with magnificent views throughout the walk. All the pupils made it to the top and their achievement of carrying their kit to the wild camp, setting up their tents, hiking 14km with over 300 feet of ascent should not be underestimated. Putting their feet in the cool river next to the camp site was certainly a relief at the end of the day. Once again they cooked dinner for themselves and the instructors then led a reflection where the pupils could talk about their experiences.

Phrases such as “challenging but fun”, “it was really hard but that made it more satisfying” and “I really enjoyed the teamwork needed to keep going” were typical.  A fantastic week of outdoor learning was had by all and a lot was learnt from the experience. Well done year 7.