Sensory-Planned Fieldwork
The protocol for every out-of-classroom learning event in Geography and History: the two GCSE Geography enquiries, the four A-level fieldwork days, NEA data collection and the GCSE History historic environment visit. Fieldwork is where the specifications require our learners to leave the predictable environment we have built for them. Done well it is the most concrete learning they do all year; the difference is planning, and the planning is the same whether the trip is a river survey, a city questionnaire or a walk around a Tudor manor house.
1. What the Specifications Require
Fieldwork is a specification requirement, not an enrichment. What each course demands and how we meet it.
Two enquiries, contrasting environments
- One physical enquiry (coast or river) in the summer of GCSE Year 1.
- One human enquiry in the UK city studied for Paper 2, in the autumn of GCSE Year 2.
- Both assessed in Paper 3 Section B through the enquiry process.
Four days minimum, NEA on own data
- Days one and two: coastal fieldwork in the spring of Year 1, tied to Component 1 Section B.
- Days three and four: NEA data collection in the summer of Year 1 on the learner's own question.
- Additional follow-up days where the NEA needs them.
The designated historic environment site
- Pre-visit through images, plans and the AQA resource pack in the summer of GCSE Year 1.
- Visit in the spring of GCSE Year 2 where the site is reachable; a comparable local site otherwise.
- Examined through the 16-mark site question in Paper 2 Section B.
2. Barrier Matrix: Requirement to DDP Method
Where fieldwork usually goes wrong for our learners, and the DDP method that replaces each failure point.
Unknown Environment
Traditional Barrier: Learners arrive at a site they have never seen, with unknown noise, crowding, toilets and weather exposure.
A member of staff visits first at the same time of day and records noise, crowding, toilets, quiet spaces, ground, signal, weather and a named exit. The site card is shared two weeks ahead with photographs and the route marked.
Improvised Roles
Traditional Barrier: Data collection is organised on the day, so learners are asked to decide, negotiate and improvise in an unfamiliar place.
Every learner has a named role per task (timer, recorder, measurer, photographer, checker) chosen with them. Data sheets are pre-printed with fields, units and number of readings. On the day learners record; they do not design.
No Way Out
Traditional Barrier: A learner who becomes overloaded has nowhere to go and no one designated to go with them, so the only options are endure or refuse.
Each learner's DDP regulation plan travels with the group. A quiet space and a named adult are on the site card. Choosing the quiet option carries no penalty and is written into the day's plan as a normal choice.
Unbounded Day
Traditional Barrier: Timings drift, breaks are unannounced, and the day dissolves into an unprocessed memory with no clear end.
A printed itinerary with clock times, travel, breaks and food is issued to every learner. Deviations are announced before they happen with the reason. A short structured debrief before dispersal: what we collected, what went to plan, what did not, what happens next.
3. The Seven-Step Sensory Protocol
Walk the protocol in order. Every step is completed before the day, not on it.
The Seven-Step Sensory Protocol
The same seven steps for a river survey, a city questionnaire or a Tudor site visit.
4. Reference Tables
The six-stage enquiry process AQA assesses, and the History site card.
| Stage | What it means | Offloading tool |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Question | A question or hypothesis investigable at the site. | Question shortlist at GCSE; four-step funnel at A-level. |
| 2. Collect | Methods, sampling and risk considered. | Pre-printed method cards; risk assessment completed with learners. |
| 3. Present | Appropriate maps, graphs and diagrams. | Presentation menu card with a worked example of each technique. |
| 4. Analyse | Patterns and anomalies explained with theory. | Analysis frame: pattern, figure, anomaly, reason, link. |
| 5. Conclude | Answer the original question with evidence. | Conclusion frame: question, answer, two pieces of evidence, qualification. |
| 6. Evaluate | Reliability, validity and improvements. | Evaluation grid: method, problem, effect on results, improvement. |
| Field | What learners look for | How it is captured |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Where the site is and why it was built there. | Map on the site card; one learner owns the field on the visit. |
| Function | What the site was for and how that changed. | Pre-visit from the AQA resource pack; checked against the site. |
| Design and layout | How the building or place was arranged and why. | Photographs and notes on a pre-printed sheet for this field alone. |
| People | Who lived, worked or was connected with the site. | Includes people previously left out, following the department's diversity rule. |
| Change over time | How the site changed and what that reveals about the period. | Shared card assembled from every learner's field after the visit. |
| Wider period | How the site connects to events in the depth study. | Links drawn to the Elizabethan timeline before the 16-mark question is attempted. |
5. Personalised Fieldwork Day Plan Builder
Toggle the protocol elements a learner needs for a specific event and copy the plan into their DDP.