Environmental Residential Visit to Cumbria - 18th - 21st October 2010

A group of 21 year 8 pupil’s were taken on a 3 day residential trip to Cumbria on an environmental studies trip with the Science department at Salford City Academy.

On arrival, the pupils dropped their bags off and had a short break and they were then ready to start the activities that had been organised for them.  The first activities were to be team building exercises, which included the lava run, giant spiders web, building a shelter from vegetation around them and night walking in the nearby woods.  All of these are designed to encourage them to communicate and listen to other people’s ideas and suggestions. 

Day 2 was working with the rangers on conservation projects.  The rangers showed them how to use different tools to clean ponds and repair walkways for the general public.  Some of the work they did was clearing dead wood, removing weeds from the pond and cutting down brambles from the edge of the pond.

During this activity the pupils did pond dipping and were asked to identify insects and other creatures that lived in the pond.  Salford City Academy will be having a nature garden with a pond and the pupils were learning how a pond should be developed and they way it should be looked after.

In the evening the rangers and staff put on a quiz for the pupils, with questions on the work they had been doing and areas they had visited whilst in Cumbria.

Day 3 was a mountain walk.  This involved walking through the hills past old quarry sites and identifying rock formations, weathering and erosion patterns.  Working as a team and assisting one another across difficult terrain and coping with a steep walk.

This 3 day residential was a perfect opportunity for the pupils, not only for educational purposes, but to improve on basic skills such as listening, co-operation, communication, politeness, perseverance and maturity.  In a lot of cases it gave them a sense of pride for the good work they had done to improve the habitat of the wildlife and the area in general.