On Thursday 22 February 2018, Miss Lillington and Miss Brace joined 12 Year 11 Geography pupils for a visit to Ribston Hall, Gloucester and a lecture arranged by the The Oxford University Society of Gloucestershire. The lecture on Oceans and Climate Change was delivered by Professor David Marshall, a physicist and oceanographer with an interest in ocean circulation and its relationship to and with Climate Change.

The one hour lecture had three key themes:

1. The role of technology in monitoring ocean currents and developing models
2. How key laws and theories of physics can be applied to ocean circulation
3. The importance and potential changes to the Gulf Stream. 

The lecture provided the geographers with an opportunity to revisit some key themes linked to anthropogenic climate change studied in Year 10 and to consider the importance of collecting data to help develop models and test scientific theories. It was a great chance for the pupils to join up their thinking and consider how climate change incorporates a range of subjects including Geography, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. It was also reassuring to hear that a 'Day after Tomorrow' scenario is unlikely and rather than the Gulf Stream switching off, it is more likely that the current is slowing down - so we do not need to worry about polar bears in The Cotswolds just yet.

We look forward to inviting back Tamsin Savvides in March 2018, a former Deer Park pupil, who is currently studying Earth Sciences at St Annes College, Oxford, who will be returning to talk to some of our Year 11 Geographers about the Greenland Mapping Project she is working on.