Geographical Association

The skies during the weekend of 13-15 May were predominantly grey, but this didn't stop 12 teams of three students from thoroughly enjoying the 2011 Worldwise Challenge competition, held at the FSC Blencathra Field Study Centre in the Lake District.

All the schools attending had been invited as a reward for their engagement and high levels of participation in a range of other Worldwise activities: the Local Quiz, the Online Quiz, My Places and Geography Awareness Week.

Their challenge for the weekend was to find out 'What makes the area around Blencathra a special place?'.

After getting to know each other on the Friday evening, the teams spent Saturday undertaking a range of fieldwork activities, exploring the area from a geographical perspective. They gathered a variety of evidence for Blecathra's 'specialness' from visits to Low Bridge End Farm at St John's in the Vale and Castlerigg stone circle, and from an ascent of Latrigg that provided stunning views of Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite from one side and Blencathra mountain (or Saddleback as it is sometimes called) and Skiddaw from the other.

On Sunday morning each team gave a creative oral and visual presentation to a panel of judges comprising a combination of GA Worldwise volunteers, FSC staff and a number of specially invited guests: Fran Martin (GA Senior Vice President), Alan Kinder (GA Education Committee Chair) and Peter Smith (former HMI for geography).

The 12 teams competing in the 2011 Worldwise Challenge competition came from the following schools:

Belgrave High School, Tamworth
Belmont Academy, Ayr
Gresham's School, Holt
Inverkeithing High School, Fife
Silverdale School, Sheffield
St Marlebone CE School, London
St Mary's Catholic Comprehensive, Menston
Witchford Village College, Ely

The overall winners of the 2011 Blancathra Worldwise Challenge trophy were St Mary's Catholic Comprehensive School from Menston near Leeds (Emma Fearon, Michael Jones and Lucy Rothwell).

Inverkeithing High School from Fife in Scotland received the award for best team in the field and the award for best presentation went to Witchford Village College, Ely.

Additional prizes for excellent individual performances over the weekend were also awarded to Myia Buckingham from St Marylebone C E School and Jake Longhorn from St Mary's.

The standard was extremely high from all schools taking part, and the weekend was agreed by all - the students, their teachers, the FSC staff and the GA team of volunteers - to be a fun, challenging and truly memorable occasion.

This is what some of the teachers had to say about the 2011 Blencathra Challenge:

'We had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and the students said they didn't want to leave!'

'We are confident that a variety of new skills and knowledge have been developed to take back into school'

'We feel privileged to have been invited. The students have had a fantastic time, living and breathing geography, with experts on hand to support, advise and tease out geographical understanding'

"Thank you for hosting us at the Worldwise Challenge. It really was an inspiring weekend. As teachers and the GA our role is to inspire the students and by doing this ensure the future health of the subject through the next generation. This model is an outstanding example of doing just that.

The Worldwise Challenge is a fantastic concept. The idea to ask the students to investigate place is at the heart of geography and, enquiry designed in the way you have, the essence of geographical learning. Place is an abstract concept and giving students the time to build a concept of place is a really generous service. It is a privilege for the students to spend time in such a beautiful setting with inspirational teachers and a fabulous opportunity."

Mr R Sugden, Assistant Head and Faculty Leader Humanities, St Mary's School, Menston, West Yorkshire

Report by Richard Gill, Mark Higginbottom and Sue Lomas

Get Involved

What better way to enthuse your students about geography than by giving them the opportunity to win a free weekend of field studies?

Worldwise incorporates a range of fun free-of-charge activities, and the more you and your students do, the greater your chances of winning a place at our Worldwise Challenge weekends funded by the Field Studies Council.

• Local Quiz: Our popular face-to-face quiz for teams of three (Years 8-10) - compete within your school or against others in your area
• Geography Awareness Week: A designated week in June each year for primary and secondary (including Post-16) students to undertake a range of activities on a geographical theme
• Online Quizzes: Online quiz questions in various formats for primary and secondary students accessed via the Worldwise website
• My Places: Primary and secondary (including Post-16) students upload images with accompanying text to explain why the place they have chosen is significant to them

Please note: some Worldwise activities require students to log in. As a teacher, you must first register your school on the site - you can do this here. After this has been completed students will be able to set up their own accounts - they can do this here. Registration is free and will give students access to their 'My Places', previous quiz scores and a printable Worldwise certificate.

Visit the Worldwise website to find out more or contact Richard Gill if you have any queries.

The Field Studies Council (FSC) contributes to the success of Worldwise by providing free use of their field centres for the immensely popular Worldwise Challenge weekends. These events are truly memorable for all concerned and would not be possible without their generous support.