Geography and Service Learning trip to the English Lake District National Park

Experience the wild but beautiful English Lake District

This exhilarating educational school trip targets the IB Diploma Geography Programme, as well as providing fun activities and cultural visits to support the CAS aspect of the IB Diploma.

Students experience the wild but beautiful English Lake District, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2017; an ideal environment to enhance students’ knowledge of geography and culture. Groups stay at our specialist centre, which occupies a dramatic setting at 300m looking across the Keswick area with its rugged fells, glaciated valleys and nestling villages. The centre's tutors are experienced teaching staff with specialist knowledge and fieldwork expertise.

The itinerary can be adapted to suit a more service learning-focused programme, or even a more activity-based programme with exciting team-building excursions such as GoApe, bushcraft skills and canoeing.

Optional Themes, developing knowledge of case studies, geographic models and theories. There will also be specific examples and links to geography concepts, which are crucial for students to demonstrate in external assessment. 

Throughout the course skills will be developed integral for the Internal Assessment report including methods of field investigation, written analysis including data presentation and analysis, statistics and GIS.

Students will also learn more about the environmental issues affecting the Lake District National Park and how they are being approached.

Freshwater: Drainage basin hydrology

Aim – to investigate downstream changes on a local river. Students carry out an investigation to see how factors such as river discharge, velocity, cross section and load change with distance from the source. The data collected by students will be analysed in detail on return to the centre. 

Freshwater

Flooding and Flood Mitigation. Aim – to investigate the causes and management of flooding in the Lake District National Park. Focusing on the River Greta catchment, students will investigate how local features of the drainage basin led to flooding in the town of Keswick.  In Keswick, which was flooded during Storm Desmond in 2015, students look at how flooding is managed.

Oceans and Coastal Margins: Managing coastal margins

Aim – to investigate the impact of coastal management on the Solway Coast. Students visit the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where they investigate how coastal defences around the town of Silloth have interacted with coastal processes.

Extreme environments: Physical processes and landscapes

Aim – to investigate the glacial landforms of the Lake District National Park. Students walk through the classic postglacial in the valley of Easedale to identify glacial landforms.

Mountain Walk

Students take on one of the Lake District iconic fells. This walk will be an opportunity for students to challenge themselves and work together. Students will be able to test and improve their navigation skills.

Ghyll Scramble

This activity involves walking and scrambling up Honister ghyll, using coordination, resilience and teamwork to clamber over rocks, dunk under waterfalls and into pools, climb up small rapids and crawl through tunnels.  There are lots of options on this ghyll scramble and it can be made as easy or as challenging as appropriate. Honister Ghyll is accessed from the village of Seatoller at the end of the Borrowdale valley. 

Conservation Task

Students undertake conservation on the centre grounds or a local nature site which could include removal of invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam, brushing in the woodland, tree planting or wild flower sewing. Tasks vary depending on season or jobs needed. This is a great opportunity to give something back to the environment and help look after the Lake District World Heritage Site.