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Year 6 visit the South Downs National Park (SDNP)

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The South Downs National Park, with its wonderful landscape and abundant opportunities for exploration, sits right on our doorstep ...

and serves as an excellent practical example in our Year 6 studies of National Parks and environmental offsetting. We were fortunate with the weather conditions, enjoying warmth throughout the day and blessed with sunshine towards the afternoon. 

Armed with plenty of water, lunch, snacks, and our field equipment, we began our educational journey at The Navigation, conducting an environmental impact assessment at Tun Bridge on the boundary of the National Park itself. The reality of human interaction with the environment was immediately evident—perhaps more so than anticipated—as the café's septic tank was being emptied during our visit! 

Moving onward to St Catherine's Hill, we conducted a comprehensive Footpath Transect, investigating erosion patterns and completing a noise pollution assessment. The boys were surprised to discover that the SDNP is quite a noisy environment, contrary to their expectations of peaceful countryside. We’ll be analysing the data collected in the coming weeks. 

Further impact and noise assessments followed on the southern aspect of St Catherine's Hill. Our route then took us to Twyford Down via the M3 bridge, where many students found the stark juxtaposition of National Park and motorway particularly striking—a powerful illustration of competing land uses. 

After lunch on the downland and some well-deserved playtime, we continued our journey through farmland, past the golf course at Hockley, and on to Tumbling Bay. Our final stop was at the base of St Catherine's Hill, where we examined the landscape changes since the infamous bypass was restored to 'Chalk Downland' in the late 1990s—a practical example of environmental restoration or ‘offsetting’ in action. 

The boys formed a very cohesive and social group throughout the day. Despite growing tired as the afternoon progressed, they coped admirably with the rapidly warming conditions and maintained their momentum for learning throughout fieldtrip. On our return, short review of our favourite parts of the day revealed a diverse range of activities and experiences had proved valuable to the boys.  

Mr Steve Leslie
Head of Geography and Q Housemaster








 

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