On Monday 30 September, the Geography Department took 16 Year 13 students to Box Hill, Dorking for a weeklong residential as part of the course requirement for their Independent Investigation (NEA).

We stayed at Juniper Hall FSC, a beautiful Grade 1 listed house that was used by the Canadian military during World War II and was sold to the National Trust in 1945 as part of the Box Hill Estate. The students had five full days of fieldwork and time to start writing up their Independent Investigations in the classroom.

On Monday afternoon students began their fieldtrip with a challenging walk up to the top of the fairly steep Box Hill; firstly, to complete a field sketch and learn skills to maximise their aptitude in this technique and secondly to admire the beautiful views of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The second part of the programme involved looking at carbon sequestration in the woodlands, working in small groups to use simple techniques to measure and quantify this. The students spent the evening completing calculations of carbon storage in different environments and began to explore, geo-location of data.

The focus of the day was on Tuesday was the human geography topic of Shaping Places. Firstly there was a detailed briefing in the classroom with a focus on sampling strategies, questionnaire methods and EQA (environmental quality surveys) methods. We then made the short journey by bus to Leatherhead to look at existing and proposed regeneration plans. With an evening session focused on data presentation techniques and completing the statistical technique Chi Square. 

On Wednesday the focus shifted to physical geography theory, with a focus on the water cycle at Box Hill. Using simple scientific techniques, the students were able to consider implications of human activity in the local area. Students investigated different land cover types and considered the impact on the water cycle, both in terms of overland flow, infiltration and flood risk. This required careful teamwork to make their investigation a success and consideration of sampling techniques. Students got to use the methods they had learned to select an area and plan for their own investigation.

Both the study centre and teaching staff were very impressed by the titles the students developed, all choosing a unique focus for their investigation; with students looking to address the current and potential rebranding in Leatherhead and the complexities of carbon stores in the Box Hill.

For the whole day on Thursday students went out in their groups to collect data for their own individual investigation. The evening continued with analysis of the data and use of ArcGIS. The week culminated in an evening toasting marshmallows around the firepit.