Last Monday, Year 10 embarked on their geography field trip to Stratford. The aim of the trip was to investigate the success of the Olympic regeneration scheme in Stratford, with over £8.5 billion pounds being spent on the scheme. As a results, many innovative features have been implemented in Stratford, such as the Olympic village being turned into purchasable accommodation.
Another purpose of this trip was to help us further our knowledge and understanding of regeneration and urban greening ideas, and is a necessary part of our GCSE studies. The buses departed at 9 in the morning, with one group starting at the London Stadium, an athletics stadium which has been converted into the home of West Ham United. The other group started at the velodrome, a state of the art cycling stadium which can seat up to 6,000. We visited the aquatics centre as well, our class learning about the adaptations made to tailor the facility to the needs of the community, with Olympians practising their sport alongside primary school children learning to swim.
Everyone completed fieldwork in ten different sites, specifically chosen, working in small groups and asking strangers questions from our surveys. This allowed us to study how the games affected the formerly run down area, helping turn Stratford into a thriving part of London.
Later on, many of us went to Westfield for lunch. The shopping centre boasts 250 shops and around 80 dining options, so there was plenty to choose from before returning for the second part of our long day – switching sides to explore the other parts of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The trip was very fun, giving pupils the opportunities to explore what we are learning about, with lots of useful and interesting research being done too.
Article written by Adam C and Sofia C, Year 10
