Year 8 Castleton Residential Trip 15th -17th November

13th September 2023

Dear Parent/Carer

Year 8 Castleton Residential trip 15th-17th November

The Geography Department is pleased to offer a residential trip to Castleston in the Peak District to year 8 students on the 15th-17th November 2023. We will be departing on Wednesday 15th November at 8am, and arriving back at school on Friday 17th November at approximately 4pm.
The trip is to explore the more practical side of Geography, where students will participate in a series of activities including the following:

Gem Panning – Students use panning dishes to search through sediment “from Castleton’s river” in search of local gems and minerals. This activity, besides being good mucky fun, links the village’s mining past and the underlying geology. Everyone ends up with a bag of gems to take home.

Shelter Building – By discussing what advantages a shelter can have, students will then have the chance to construct various designs of shelter for different conditions. Using the various designs groups will then have to use this knowledge to build a shelter suitable for a given scenario.

Fire Lighting – Develop an understanding of the fire triangle, forage for firewood, use fire strikers and understand and manage the risks involved with fire. Then using the fire striker, light and maintain a small fire.

Guided Walk – Go on an adventure and explore the stunning countryside of the Peak District National Park around Castleton. There’s the great ridge and Mam Tor, plus the village of Castleton including remnants of its mining past. There’s an opportunity to learn about the geology and human history of the area as well as connecting to nature.

Treak Cliff Cavern – Take a tour around one of the best show caves in Britain which includes the famous Blue John stone, which is only found in Castleton. There’s also the natural flow stone cascading down the cavern walls, impressive stalagmites and stalactites and experiencing total darkness.

Fossil Making – Gain an understanding of how fossils have been made by creating your own fossil.

The total cost of the trip is £185 per students and this covers:

• Coach travel there and back
• Accommodation for 2 nights
• All activities listed above
• 2X breakfast, lunch and dinner

This trip will be live for you to book on ParentPay on Monday 18th September at 9.00am. If you have any questions regarding this trip please contact mary-ann.browne@mybiddenham.com.

Yours sincerely

Mary-Ann Browne

Teacher of Geography