What is Colliers Green Focus?

Colliers Green Focus is an exciting project that encourages secondary school geography students to spend a day exploring their local community in the context of environmental change and sustainability. Using photography as a creative medium, students capture a 'sense of place' through new eyes and hone their critical skills in selecting their best images for entry into a national photography competition.

The field-trip programme has been developed by photographic and educational specialists to support the Key Stage 3 (S1-3 in Scotland) geography curriculum. The activities and themes covered can be tailored to reflect pupils' current topic of study. Both strands of the programme - COMPACT and MOBILE - are open to all secondary schools in England, Wales and Scotland.

Colliers Green Focus is an excellent project for cross-curricular study. Whilst routed in the geography curriculum it links strongly into art and IT, with further possibilities to introduce themes relating to local history and citizenship.

What happens on a Colliers Green Focus Field-trip?

Colliers Green Focus activities normally take place over a day at a local site or even within the school grounds, field-work is followed with classroom-based activity using computers to download and review the photographs taken.

Over the course of the day students will make use of digital cameras as tools for research, exploration and documentation. They will learn how photography can be best applied within an environmental geography context and how to get the most from cameras for their future work. Students will then be expected to add further context to their images by writing about what they have photographed as part of a post field-trip workshop.

Watch our short film to see some projects in action.

The rewards of taking part extend far beyond the field-trip and a range of resources is available to enable teachers to make use of the Colliers Green Focus approach more extensively in their work with young people.

How do I take part?

There are two ways in which your school can take part in Colliers Green Focus in 2011/12; the Compact or Mobile route.

COMPACT: Our expert team will work with ten schools, selected by application, on a one-day workshop and field-trip. They will bring with them a set of digital camera for the school to use on that day.

MOBILE: This is a new strand of the programme, designed to provide teachers with the know-how and resources to lead their own Colliers Green Focus project. Schools are encouraged to make use of mobile phone cameras if they do not have access to digital cameras.

Find out more about opportunities for the current academic year here.

How do I enter the photography competition?

Both strands of the programme have their own competition. Images are automatically entered into the Compact competition following our visit to the school. Teachers participating in Mobile can submit their students' images by email.

Our competition is judged by a panel of experts with specialisms in photography, the environment and journalism. The winners are announced at an Annual Awards Ceremony in London in November and shortlisted students are invited to attend with their teachers.

How much will it cost?

Participation in Colliers Green Focus is free of charge.