At the end of the last academic year, the Geography Department organised a dropdown day where all year 8 students were off timetable so that they could expand their geographical knowledge and understanding outside of their normal geography classrooms.
Half of the year group were working in the multipurpose hall with an architectural firm called John McAslan and Partners from Central London, crafting some fantastic ideas and producing some beautiful photo collages of what they believe certain areas of Tottenham should look like in the future. Regeneration was the theme and this was a workshop that utilised the recent field trip that this group of students went on down Tottenham High Road several weeks previous to this date. The presentation the students produced on the day was of a very high calibre which was highlighted by the architects. Who knows? We could have some budding architects in our midst.
“I did a presentation on Tottenham which highlighted the importance of Geography in the local community.” – Kalender
The other half of the year group spent the main part of their day focussing on natural disasters, with an emphasis on Typhoons/Hurricanes. It was clear that there are some born leaders in our school with multiple students taking a lead of their group who had to build towns that were located in the Philippines, an area that is no stranger to natural disasters. The students showed amazing creativity in the building of their towns, as they were only allowed to buy a certain number of strong durable buildings, while using cardboard and paper to create the rest. We had some unimpressed faces when the students had arrived back after break to find out that parts of their towns had been destroyed by a Typhoon and some of their hard work was ruined. Very deep discussions took place after this as the students compared how they felt to the families actually living in an area such as the Philippines and it was clear that the understanding of such disastrous effects on the people in those areas was enhanced greatly. The students showed this in the large posters they created exploring how they could change their town so that it was more durable during a natural disaster as well as thinking about what are the most important buildings to try and protect in order to minimise damage.
“I learnt that natural disasters can affect people in different ways. Natural disasters can transform someone’s life!” – Nathan
Finally, the whole year group met together in the theatre to receive a fantastic presentation from real life volunteers working for Disaster Aid UK who are making a massive difference in the lives of the people who are affected by the Natural Disasters throughout the world. Students were given the opportunity to explore the tents that are sent out to disaster zones that people live in and got to see the different equipment that is sent out also. Hopefully it will entice our students to get involved with volunteering in the future as well as possibly raising money for organisations such as Disaster Aid UK.