Year 10 visit the Peabody Head Office with Citizens UK to speak about Thamesmead regenration

The photo shows the proposed development of housing in Thamesmead.

Students from Year 10 Geography volunteered for working with Citizens UK and Peabody (a housing association in charge of regeneration of Thamesmead) to produce presentations on different areas of the urban change. These presentations would late be judged by Principal Patrick Winston and MP Theresa Pearce. To give a foundation knowledge in preparation for these presentations, the students were invited to Peabody head office in Yarton Way (Thamesmead) to meet urban designers and complete a workshop on sustainable regeneration.

Students worked with the urban designers and applied theory learnt in the classroom, an example of which was the system of planning in England and Wales involving the three tiers of decision-making. This shaped their understanding of how stakeholders decided the building of housing and design of the urban environments in Thamesmead. The students produced their own interpretation of the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Year 10 listened to the ideas being proposed for the area of Thamesmead, which had received a significant grant from the London Assembly to meet demand for housing in the area. It coincides within the Local Development Framework that includes the opening of CrossRail by 2018 in Abbey Wood. Students were given proposals for Thamesmead on the following areas:

-          Open spaces;

-          Public use of the urban landscape and housing need;

-          Work and and employment issues;

-          Shopping services;

-          Green housing;

-          Connecting transport.

Students were given the scenario for the Geography Presentation Competition:

Each team would be given 3 – 4 minutes to make a presentation on different proposals for the area of Thamesmead:

Ø  Miss Gaffney’s class: Creating a new commercial economy in Abbey Wood – Shopping districts.

Ø  Mr Davis’ class: Sustainable estates.

Ø  Mrs Copper’s class: Sustainable communal spaces in Southmere lake.

Ø  Mr O’Nullain’s class: Sustainable and affordable intergenerational communities.

The students would be allowed 4 minutes to present their ideas to the panel of judges.

The judging criteria is:

·         Quality of verbal presentation (out of 10)

·         Quality of visual presentation (out of 10)

·         How radical are the presented ideas? (out of 10)

·         How achievable are the presented ideas? (out of 10)

Each team has a team captain, whose role is to work with the team to make sure the presentation is ready. The students had agreed research and speaking roles which were integral to the design of the presentation that would be due in two week of the date. We wish each team the best of luck as the winning one would have the opportunity to travel to Go Ape at Leeds Castle.

#Where's your next Geography classroom?