Geography – Iceland Trip

In 2006, eighteen students started their studies a week earlier than the other Oaklands pupils, but none of them were complaining given that their classroom was situated in the dramatic landscape of Iceland. In fact, this was the first time that the Geography department had taken students abroad and the success of the trip continues to be repeated on a two-yearly basis.

All of the members of the department are firm believers in the use of fieldwork to engage students and this is characterised by the extensive use of such activities to deliver the Geography curriculum at the school. However, only a recent trip to Sicily has been able to rival the experience of the land of ‘Fire and Ice’.

During the five-day trip the students were able to experience much of the breathtaking scenery that has made Iceland so famous. The thrill of climbing volcanoes, bathing in the Blue Lagoon, viewing geysers and waterfalls were particular favourites, as was clambering over a glacier. However, many of the students just enjoyed being in a landscape so far removed from the urban centre of Portsmouth and the rolling Chalk hills that they are used to in southeast Hampshire.