Published: October 22, 2011
Town school's geography department becomes 'centre of excellence'

The geography department at Highbridge's King Alfred School has been awarded the status of a 'Centre of Excellence' by the Geographical Association - becoming one of only a handful of schools to achieve this award in the region.

Catherine Owen, Head of Geography, says the school is delighted to have earned the recognition.

She told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "The department is delighted that our efforts to make geography relevant and engaging for all of our students have been recognised through this award."

The Geographical Association is a UK association whose core objective is to further geographical knowledge and understanding through education.

News of the award comes as the school this month hosted a visit by Bob Digby, an expert on the geography of the Olympics and Senior Vice President of the Geographical Association.

He visited the Somerset Geography Conference, which was hosted at the school and attended by geography teachers from across the county.

Catherine said: "Hosting the Somerset Geography Conference is just one example of the way KAS has become a hub for sharing good practice in geography teaching and we hope to develop this role in the future."

Teachers travelled from schools as far afield as Frome, Ilminster and Langport to hear Mr Digby talk about how the 2012 Olympics is regenerating the Stratford area of London and to attend workshops focussing on fieldwork in the school grounds, controlled assessment and GIS. Sixth form students also joined in.

Pictured: Staff from schools across Somerset at the geography conference held in King Alfred School