On the 24^th February, 15 members of the Year 12 Geography class set out on a trip that would take them 500 miles to the seventh largest island in Scotland – the Isle of Arran. The journey saw them use three trains, a tube line, a ferry and a coach. We arrived at the Lochranza Centre in the North of the island after an 11 hour journey!

Once settled in, the work really began, and for five days the class worked from 9 in the morning to 8 at night, in all types of weather and all types of terrain, from the shelter of Catacol Bay to the -15 degrees blizzard that a group of girls found themselves in whilst surveying Lochranza Spit. It wasn’t all work and the group enjoyed watching both films and TV in the common room and playing table tennis. Despite being stuck on the island for two extra days Mr Williams and the Centre found things for the group to do, including cleaning to earn their keep, completing a CPR first aid course, visiting the Isle of Arran distillery and travelling around the island on the bus.

Two days later we left, albeit wary of train cancellations. We caught the late morning ferry to the mainland. After a further 10 or more hours we arrived back at Maidstone East station, to be greeted by both Miss Worron and Mr Wall. The entire trip was both educational and enjoyable. Now that we have collected fieldwork data we have to write up our reports in class. At the end of the trip the group clubbed together to buy a bottle of the distillery’s 14 year old malt whiskey for Mr Williams in order to say thank you for all his hard work and for putting up with us for a whole week!

Written by Daniel Smith, Year 12 Geography student

It really was a privilege taking such a wonderful group of students to Arran. I hope that it has left vivid memories, both collective and individual. We are currently writing up the fieldwork which contributes 20% to the final exam grade.

Mr A Williams, Geography teacher