Final field trips in Swansea

Ysgol Penyrheol – Caswell Bay

This, our last field trip took us the furthest away from the school to Caswell Bay on the south Gower coast. The weather was a little disappointing at first, with low cloud and a cool breeze from the sea. Being near midsummer, though, the light level itself was good, with even illumination. This meant that shadows were not an important feature of picture taking.



Above: Penryheol staff and kids air surfing on the beach at Caswell Bay

The children were happy to be there and keen to go off and take photos of the coast line, the sand, the rock formations and rock pools. We were lucky that the tide was nearly out, revealing the rocks and caves on both side of the bay. Back in school and looking at their best three shots, the entire class had done excellent work. The exhibition next autumn will be good to see.


Ysgol Pen y Bryn – Singleton Park

What a treat! Our trip to Singleton was very enjoyable and by the time we arrived, the clouds had parted and the light substantially improved. The upper part of the park was a revelation. The first things we saw were the beautifully situated Gorsedd Stones, which provided lots of potential for interesting photos, both as individual stones and as the whole arrangement. It was also a very good spot to take the group photo shot. Moving on, we went through a gate in the high stone wall into the Botanical Garden to see a feast of colour.



Above: Penybryn class on the Gorsedd Stones in Singleton Park

Magnificent describes the floral displays only adequately – there were wonderful flowers in profusion and the kids took lots of photos. Actually, there were many other possible pics here: stately trees, squirrels, a pond, birds and (more fun here) water sprays. There were more photos taken in the Botanical Garden than anywhere else on our previous field trips. It is gratifying to see the pleasure these young people are getting from the project, not mention the satisfaction from making genuine pieces of art.

This was our last session before the end of term and the last of the field trips for the Swansea schools. When we resume in September, we will be doing the three sessions in front of the computers, downloading from the cameras, creating folders and choosing the best pictures for the exhibition. Enjoy the summer!