The geography department organised a residential trip for Year 9 and Year 10 pupils to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) located in Machynlleth, Snowdonia National Park in North Wales between Friday 1^st July 2022 to Sunday 3^rd July 2022. 

The trip started with a visit to Aberystwyth where the pupils enjoyed a visit to Ceredigion Museum (Amgueddfa Ceredigion) then ate the chips they bought for lunch on the promenade overlooking the shingle beach.  Upon arrival at the CAT the pupils unpacked their belongings in the eco-cabins then cooled off in a local shallow river even though it was raining. 

On Saturday the CAT provided interactive workshops, the first workshop focused on ‘the story of water’, which included a guided tour of the reservoir and water purification process.  The second workshop focused on ‘zero carbon Britain’, which included a challenge around the site by locating different sustainability symbols and recorded the amount of carbon that each symbol can reduce.  Later the pupils explored the site of the CAT further and took a ride on the water-balanced cliff railway. 

All pupils were then taken to Aberdyfi where they enjoyed a swim in the clear sea and a play in the sand.  The trip provided the pupils with an insight into the application of sustainability, which is covered widely in geography at KS3 (Years 7-9) and KS4 (Year 10-11).  The trip made a direct link to the topic of: Tomorrow’s citizens, which is covered in the Year 9 summer term and Core Theme 5: Weather, climate, and ecosystems, which is covered in Year 11 in the autumn term. 

By Sunday all pupils and teachers to include Mr. S. Draper, Miss. M. Dykes-Swindell, Miss. S. Speake & Mr. D. Jones were exhausted.  On Sunday, the pupils packed their belongings, cleaned their cabins, and were awarded prizes for the cleanest room, best behaved pupil and most helpful.