Dear Parent/Carer,

We are thrilled to share an unmissable opportunity for all Durrington High School students: the Young Geographer of the Year Competition!  This exciting challenge gives our students the chance to showcase their imagination, curiosity, and passion for exploring the world we live in. Even better, it runs in partnership with the prestigious Royal Geographical Society’s national competition—a platform that could see their work celebrated on a much bigger stage. Additional info here.

This year’s theme: Understanding Islands

The competition requires students to design a vibrant A3 poster (by hand or digitally) exploring the fascinating world of islands – how they work, the challenges they face, and the surprising connections between them. This is about going beyond the classroom and producing something bold, creative, and inspiring.

What we’re looking for:

• Years 7–9 entries: Compare at least two islands, considering both physical (natural) and human (economic, social, political) geography.
• Years 10–11 entries: Compare at least three islands, exploring the same elements in greater depth.
• All entries should:
  • Highlight similarities and connections between the islands.
  • Be independently researched and carefully presented.
  • Use images, drawings, and colour to grab attention. (recommended to use images from free sites such as  Unsplash, Pixabay and Flickr.  Any web images used must be credited)
  • Carefully checked in terms of SPAG
  • Include the student’s full name, age and form class on the back.

Deadlines:

• For the School-based competition: Thursday 23rd October (4pm) to Mrs Steele (esteele@durring.com)
• For the National competition entries must be with Mrs Steele by Thursday 2nd October (4pm)

This is an extraordinary chance for students to see their geographical curiosity recognised, celebrated, and possibly even shared at a national level. We cannot wait to see the creativity and insight our students bring to this theme!

Remember your child’s geography teacher will be more than happy to have a chat about any ideas/themes and content they plan to use as part of their poster.  We plan, for our school-based competition, to offer a range of prizes and recognition to winning entries in each category as well as KAPP points and awards.  

Thank you in advance for supporting your child to get involved – it promises to be an inspiring journey.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Steele
Teacher of Geography