Geographical Association

The GA's Worldwise Challenge Weekend took place at Juniper Hall Field Studies Centre from 18-20 September 2009. It was the second of two Challenge Weekends this year, with the first taking place at Malham Tarn Field Studies Centre from 3-5 April.

Students were selected for this free fieldwork weekend according to their performance across a range of Worldwise activities, including the local quizzes, 'My Place' and Geography Awareness Week.

More than one million people visit Box Hill Country Park every year, and participating students were challenged to find out what makes this area of the North Downs surrounding Juniper Hall so popular. After identifying why Box Hill is such a unique geographical environment, they then had to make a pitch to the board explaining why the area is ripe for investment.

Equipped with a GPS and waypoints, map, compass, camera and photographs, the students planned their routes and set off to explore the area, encountering tutors at set points along the way. The activities were designed to allow the students to make direct contact with the natural environment. They were encouraged to look deeply at their surroundings, develop their sensory awareness, talk to locals and visitors in a quest to find the many and varied reasons people come to Box Hill.

The students were certainly up to the tasks set for them and their presentations and reports at the end of the weekend showed an assurance and maturity. The quality of their geography was excellent - by combining elements of physical geography with the impact of human decisions and actions, they all proposed sound plans for the future of the area.

At the end of the weekend, the Bishop Wordsworth's School 'A' Team were crowned as overall winners and took home a Worldwise Challenge trophy, certificates and Longman Student Atlases.

Overall Winners - Bishop Wordsworth's School 'A' Team

Tom Ridley
Sam Ridgeway
Patrick Brennan

Fieldwork - St Cuthbert Mayne School

Daniel Clemence
James Brook
Tim Brook

Presentation - Bishop Wordsworth's School 'B' Team

Guy Niblett
Joseph Hand
Tom Whetstone

Eight teams from schools as far apart as Plymouth in Devon to Stenhousemuir in Scotland all met up to take part in the 2009 Worldwise Challenge held at Malham Tarn Field Studies Centre from 3-5 April.

Their challenge for the weekend was to find out 'what makes Malham a special place'. After getting to know one another on the Friday evening, the teams spent Saturday exploring the area from a geographical perspective. They spent their time gathering a variety of evidence for Malham's 'specialness' through visits to Malham village, Malham Cove, Gordale Scar, Janet’s Foss, a glacial valley, a peat bog, water sinks and the tarn itself.

On the Sunday morning each team worked on and then delivered a creative oral and visual presentation to the panel of volunteer GA judges that included the GA President (2008-09), Margaret Roberts.

The overall winners of the 2009 Malham Worldwise Challenge trophy were the team from The James Young High School, Livingston, Scotland.

The award for best team in the field went to South Hunsley School, North Ferriby and the award for best presentation went to Silcoates School, Wakefield.

The standard was extremely high from all schools, 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 once again truly memorable occasion.

A team of four students selected from the winning Worldwise Challenge teams (Juniper Hall and Malham Tarn) will represent the UK at the 2010 International Geography Olympiad (IGEO) in Taipei.

Winners from the 2008 Worldwise Challenge competed in the 2009 National Geographic World Championships in Mexico - a full report is available in the Autumn 2009 issue of GA Magazine.

What better way to enthuse your students about geography than by giving them the opportunity to win a free weekend of field studies and the chance to compete in an international geography competition?

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.