Grade 8 Geography Field Trip
The Grade 8 ‘exam’ took the form of a field trip in which the year’s work to date was concretised through a visual journey through Grahamstown. The aim of the morning was not only to make real those elements that the pupils have been learning about in class, but also to provide them with a far broader picture of Grahamstown. The grade 8s were divided into three groups and they rotated through the three activities. There was a bus tour through the various residential and industrial areas of Grahamstown- with a stop in Artificers Square. Then a climb to the top of Sugar Loaf Hill provided a vantage point from which to locate a whole array of land uses on a map. Following from this the grade 8s walked along High Street – from the Drostdy Arch to the old railway Station noting the condition and function of buildings. They then returned to school – in time to have a quick tea and were given an opportunity to sit calmly and make sure that they had completed their map drawings en route, and to write a reflection about what they had learned during the morning.
