IB Geographers visit the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Upper school IB geographers visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of studying their unit on Leisure, Tourism and Sport.

The main aim of the trip was to investigate the legacy of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Pupils were given a tour of the park and the surrounding area evaluating the social, economic and environmental impacts of the games and subsequent redevelopment.

The tour started at the aquatic centre quickly followed by the Olympic stadium, the location of ‘Super Saturday’ and more recently the home of West Ham United.

Pupils then visited Hackney Wick an area gentrified post Olympics and now home to artisans, musicians and artists (and also some of the best graffiti in the UK).

Lunch was taken in the Velodrome where pupils were amazed and the steepness of the track. At the new East bank pupils witnessed evidence of cultural development.

Other parts of the park are also now being used for accommodation and teaching buildings by both UCL and Loughborough universities.  The tour ended by walking through the former athletes village now an area full of luxury apartments.