Geography field trip to Iceland is an experience of a lifetime

In the half term holidays, forty of our Year 10 and Year 11 GCSE Geography students had the trip of a lifetime as they went on an educational field trip to Iceland. This was the first ever trip to the land of fire and ice for Spalding Academy!

It was a packed trip full of early starts and night time activities as our students had a full itinerary over five days to explore Iceland’s natural wonders, geothermal activity and coastal and tectonic landscapes. Each day involved a variety of visits, activities and experiences featuring volcanos, earthquakes, coastal systems, cold environments, rivers and waterfalls, which are all part of the GCSE syllabus.

There were incredible landscapes to experience on a trek (complete with ice axes and crampons) to the Solheimajokul glacier to experience walking on one of the country’s largest glaciers. Students were able to walk behind (and be soaked by) towering waterfalls, witness a ‘Geysir’ erupt with a spout of bubbling hot water and steam plus they had a relaxing morning dip in a naturally heated hot-spring with a backdrop of fjords and mountains.

They explored the science of geology and the volcanic systems on a caving trip into a ‘lava tunnel’ formed by past volcanic activity and took a ride on ‘FlyOver Iceland’, which is a simulator experience taking a flight over the country’s outstanding natural landscapes. In an interactive visit to the Lava Centre, students also learnt about the tectonic processes that have shaped Iceland.

The highlight were the snowy scenes that students woke up to on their final day, which gave the perfect excuse for a snowball fight and taking stunning pictures of the Gulfoss waterfall surrounded by snow. There was even time for some souvenir shopping in the historic capital city of Reykjavik.

This fantastic experience has helped the students consolidate their knowledge gained from Geography lessons in school, as well as providing them with memories to last a lifetime.

Throughout the whole trip, the students were an absolute credit to the school and behaved superbly. All of the staff who gave up their time during the half term were very grateful to have shared it with a brilliant group of students in an awe-inspiring country.