On 1st May, around 100 pupils from the 13s visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford on a geography trip that explored the legacy of the London Olympics in 2012 in reshaping the social, environmental and economic character of East London.
The day started with a visit to the Westfield shopping centre completed just before the Olympics followed by a tour of the original 1970s shopping centre that sits opposite. Pupils were asked to interview shoppers and market stallholders about the way that Stratford has changed in the years since.
The trip continued with a walking tour of housing in the area that took in areas both of existing ‘Old’ Stratford and the Olympic village which has now been redeveloped into housing for families and young professionals.
Pupils learnt how attractions including West Ham’s football stadium and the aquatic and cycling track now provide the area with entertainment and community ‘anchors’. The group then paused for lunch and to sketch the beautifully landscaped parkland areas beside the River Ley before visiting the west edge of the park at Hampton Wick which has become a fashionable and funky artists’ quarter.