On Monday 27th October, 33 A-level Biology pupils set out on a 6 hour coach trip to the Trewern Outdoor Education Centre in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, for a week of invigorating biodiversity fieldwork and exciting outdoor activities. Despite grey clouds looming above for the start of their residential week, pupils dove into the deep end (on occasion, quite literally) and exhibited some excellent teamwork, communication and sampling skills. Environments that pupils sampled included a rocky shore and a beautiful freshwater stream system, where pupils demonstrated excellent knowledge and understanding of different living species and how they change based on ecological conditions.
All pupils composed themselves excellently in the face of wind and (sometimes torrential) rain on Tuesday, and were rewarded for their amazing teamwork and engagement on Wednesday with glorious sunshine sampling on the hills of Wales. On the final day of their fieldtrip, pupils were given exciting opportunities to engage in various outdoor activities that included gorge walking, indoor rock climbing, archery and BMX biking. Many pupils learned a great few skills on this final day; whilst some found themselves climbing higher than spider monkeys, others proved themselves to be better archers than the famous Robin Hood. Some of our amazing Year 13s even mastered the art of wading through gorge systems that were taller than themselves, proving that no wave can wash away their determination.
We, as well as all fieldwork instructors at Trewern, were incredibly proud of how this amazing group of young biologists carried forward the excellence promoted by Robert Clack School. We look forward to seeing how the experiences gained on this trip will pay off for these A-level Biologists and look forward to returning to Trewern with A-level Biologists in future years to come.