Figure 1.--.
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Figure 1.--. |
Prep schools do not place a great emphasis on geography, but it is almost always taught. Commonly schools give about equal attention to history and geography. Commonly there will be 1-2 classes weekly. This varies slightly from school to school. Both British and world geography are taught. Commonlt the children also study local geography. Often guest speakers will be invited in to talk to the children on geographic topics.
Mr George Spenceley came to give us a lecture on Ethiopia. He told us he had been traveling for 33 years (almost as long as Mr Lee-Smith has lived!). He showed us slides of the country; one was of the airport when it was being used as a market -- when an aeroplane comes everyone has to scatter! He showed us slides of temples cut out od solid rock. He told us of his journey with only the clothes he was wearing, his books and some anti-biotics; of sleeping in a hut where there were animals; of his sleeping-bag being invaded by vermin. I did not look at my watch once during the lecture, so it cannot have been boring.
Katherine Bashforth, Junior Wyvern (Queen's College Junior School), 1989-90.
For a retiring master, "I am particularly indebted to the Scotts for giving me: 1. A curiosity for Christianity -- by reading 'God's Smuggler' and 'The Cross and the Switchblade' -- which came to fruition in 1980. 2. An enthusiasm for geography. I still remember the saga of the London taxi with 100,000 miles on the clock crossing the Sahara, and a series on city problems opened my eyes to the Third World. Without the Scott's influence for good, I doubt whether we would be off to Bangladesh with Tear Fund in September."
Jeremy Marshall (1968-70), Great Walstead Magazine 1987.
The endless stretching of the moor,
A lonely place to be at night or in bad weather,
The mysterious mist blinds you to the way ahead,
You are lost in this eerie place of no life,
A dark place of fear,
Un daytime the moors look alive again,
Birds are singing in the sky,
Foxes hunting on the ground,
You cannot imagine the fear it had over you the
previous night.
Nathan Gregory, 10 years, 6 months, Surge (Beeston Hall), Autumn 1988.
I suppose having spent about ten years teaching Geography to all the forms in the school except the 3rd Form and the Upper 6th Forms it would be easy to say that the rut is deep and I can now teach Geography with my eyes closed (some of the children probably think I do that anyway!) However, such is not the case! Geography is one of those strange subjects that doesn't stick to the text books. In fact, once the "book" is published, it almost invariably goes out of date. So apart from the principles and theoretic trends, text books are not used to any great extent in Great Walstead's Middles' Geography Department. I much prefer the dynamic TV and Multi-Media presentations which happen right before your very eyes. This sometimes initiates a rapid and unforseen change in the time table but if we intend to show how "alive" the subject is; how much 'in the news" it is; one must take advantage of any suitable situation as it arises. The glorious Natural Word programmes on TV are a prime example, revealing up-to-date information about the processes that go to make our wonderful world an awe-inspiring place to live. ....
JRC, Great Walstead Magazine 1987.
