Cranford Review 2014

The Annual Sixth Form RE Conference was a
brilliant day. It began with an introduction which
immediately captured the attention of us pupils.
During this time people were required to ‘speed
debate’ a number of contentious statements, so right
from the outset we were able to talk about our own
opinions, but more importantly listen to others. After
break, A-level Religious Studies pupils delivered
their own workshops on a wide range of topics which
were both current and controversial, for example
‘Should Politics intervene with religion’ and ‘Is
the media making Britain racist.’ These workshops
allowed sstudents to interact with each other and
they included a wide range of activities which meant
we were engaged throughout. The day ended with
a ‘Question Time’ panel activity in which teachers
represented different faiths positions including
Atheism which was a remarkable opportunity as we
could ask many questions and challenge ideas held
by others but also think more deeply about our own
preconceptions.
Yasmin Ismail (year 12)
Annual
Sixth Form
Conference
July 2014
Annual
SACRE
Conference
2014
As an A Level Religious Studies student, it was a
privilege to be part of the annual SACRE Borough
Religious Education Conference at Lampton School.
It gave us the opportunity to discuss current affairs
that are relevant to us. The question addressed by
the panel of specialists at the beginning was “Is
Britain a Christian country?” this was the main
stimulant for the day and the specialists representing
different faiths backgrounds, including humanism
tackled this question and others (ranging from the
compatibility of religion and science to traditional
religion and gay marriage) put to them from the
floor in an impressive and scholarly manner. We
then attended various workshops where we engaged
in philosophical debates with other students and
PGCE teachers from the Institute of Education. It
was a great experience that enabled me to express
my thoughts and challenged me to think differently
having taken in the ideas presented to me by others
on the day.
Geography Field
Trip to Swanage
Year 12
geography A Level students
are required to participate
in fieldwork for our Unit 2 exam, with the two units
being on Crowded Coasts and Rebranding Places.
Using a more practical approach to further fortify our
knowledge of coastal processes and rebranding, we
were able to experience geography at its peak. This
was an exciting part of the course that develops our
skills and understanding of field work techniques.
Witnessing the majesty of coastal landforms is
completely different to learning autonomously about
them, as you realise that the places along the coast are
truly beautiful and that the coastline is rightly named
a World Heritage Site. We visited many different
places along the Jurassic Coast like Lulworth Cove
and Boscombe. We undertook sand dune transects in
Studland Bay and also completed a bi-polar analysis
at Swanage Beach focussing on the success of coastal
defences or of rebranding schemes in Boscombe. Our
primary focus was to incorporate fieldwork techniques
and data with relevance to exam questions. Through
implementing a plethora of fieldwork techniques, we
were able to gather a greater understanding of how to
achieve higher marks in the exam. Both Mr Clifford
and Mr Myers dedicated their evenings to marking
our exam questions and providing feedback for each
student immediately, which was particularly helpful in
strengthening our understanding and addressing key
issues. I and the rest of the year 12 geography students
at Cranford would like to thank Mr Myers, Mr Clifford
and Ms Cousins for accompanying us and for making
this experience both enjoyable and educational.
Kishan Shah (year 12)
Isabella Bruno (year 12)
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