Geographical Association

Rachel Bowles


Image Sources

Allen, S., Hollinshead, E. and Wilkinson, S. (1998) Using Houses and Homes. English Heritage. - Contains photocopiable illustrations showing doors, windows, roofs and building materials over time.
Images of England - Search the digital library of listed buildings, which is being assembled with volunteer help (you could perhaps help with this if your area is not provided for).
Pupil Vision – Hall Green - Examples of houses built in Birmingham between the two world wars.
Pupil Vision – Spark Hill - Examples of inner city Victorian houses in Birmingham.

Maps

Cassini Maps - historical maps of England, Wales & Edinburgh which have been re-formatted to match OS Landrangers. You can also use the Cassini Mapmaker service to select any A4 or A3 area you want by town name or postcode.
Map24 - Precise instructions required, though the site is navigable.
Map Histeria - Includes pre-19th-century county maps.
MapZone - Very navigable, but children will need careful guidance. Contains games, resources and instructions.
Multimap - Precise instructions required; penalties may be incurred for straying into the business areas.
Old Maps - Search by place name, address or co-ordinates.
OS Get-a-map - Search by place name, address or co-ordinates or click to zoom in.
Your Maps Online - Scans of original maps and etchings, some available free.

Websites

Census Returns for England and Wales
Focuses on the history of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, but in so doing gives a very clear rundown of what the census is about and how to use it.
Census Information for 1901
Requires clear instructions and prior exploration by the teacher. Not the easiest site to navigate – the less information is given, the quicker the result!
Britain Express - Half-timbered houses.
Britain Express - Georgian architecture
Get That Building Listed
Contains useful advice should you find a building is under threat.
Living Streets
Living Streets is the new name for the Pedestrian Association, whose agenda is ‘to make your local surroundings a happy extension of your home life rather than a threat that surrounds and isolates you.’ These ideas are applicable to suburban streets as well as central urban streets. There is a worldwide movement that strongly supports these ideas for every street, and is well described at here.
English Heritage - The Save Our Streets campaign. Includes pages with useful photographs of ‘clutter’ and a downloadable worksheet for doing a street audit.

Related Fiction

Baker, J. (1993) Window. London: Puffin. (out of print)
A street over time out of a boy’s window – can parallels be drawn with your area?
Baker, J. (2004) Home. New York: Greenwillow.
Another street over time, showing changes in a neighbourhood from dereliction through to complete regeneration. (Both books make ideal ‘starters’ for different parts of the scheme.)
White, K.(2003) Barnaby Bear’s Local Area Album (KS1). Sheffield: Geographical Association.

Non-fiction Resources

Grimwade, K. et al (2000) Geography and the New Agenda: Citizenship, PSHE and Sustainable Development in the Primary Curriculum. Sheffield: The Geographical Association.
QCA (2004) Census results. Available here
A series of lessons using history and numeracy.
May, S. and Richardson, P. (2005) Fieldwork File: Managing Safe and Successful Fieldwork
. Sheffield: Geographical Association.
The first part of the Fieldwork File Series. Look out for Fieldwork File for the Primary Years winter 2005/06.

Books for teachers

Barnicoat, J. (1994) Newspapers and Conservation. London: English Heritage.
Beech, G. and Mitchell, R. (2004) Maps for Family and Local History: The Records of the Tithe, Valuation Office, and National Farm Surveys of England and Wales, 1836–1943. 2nd edition. Richmond: The National Archives.
Copeland, T. (1998) Teacher’s Handbook for Local Studies. London: English Heritage.
Davies, I. and Webb, C. (1996) Using Documents. London: English Heritage.
English Heritage (1999) Primary History. London: English Heritage
Keith, C. (1991) Using Listed Buildings. London: English Heritage.
O’Neill, G. (2004) Our Street: East End Life in the Second World War. London: Penguin. - Focuses on the lives of Londoners in the East End during the World War II.
Scoffham, S. (ed) (2005) Primary Geography Handbook. Sheffield: Geographical Association.
English Heritage (2001) Our High Street. A complete study set across the whole school.

Website Material for Teachers

Brickfields
An interactive exhibition exploring buildings and the built environment, and illustrating the growth of Hackney.
Britain in Bloom
Organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Britain in Bloom is the largest horticultural campaign in Europe. Every year, hundreds of communities are involved, from tiny rural villages to the largest cities, all bringing a great deal of horticultural skill and huge enthusiasm to one common aim: that of regenerating local environments, both locally and nationally, by the imaginative planting of trees and shrubs, flowers and landscaping, and by dealing with local environmental issues such as litter, graffiti and vandalism.
Cleaner, Safer, Greener Communities
This is a government resource for everyone and will continue to grow and evolve. It brings together information and support to encourage everyone to use, improve, maintain and own their parks, green spaces and streets.
Common Ground
Expands at length upon the concept that ‘Local distinctiveness must be about history continuing through the present (not about the past) and it is about creating the future.’ Worth browsing to get some idea of where government and the agencies might be obtaining ideas of improving quality and sustainability.
QCA - Useful ESD definitions.
English Heritage Education
Federation of City Farms
City farms and community gardens are community-managed projects working with people, animals and plants. They range from tiny wildlife gardens to fruit and vegetable plots on housing estates, from community polytunnels to large city farms. They exist mainly in urban areas and are created in response to a lack of access to green space, combined with a desire to encourage strong community relationships and an awareness of gardening and farming.
Flourish Programme
Flourish is a campaign run by the RHS to help make horticulture accessible to every child in the UK, by supporting the development of gardens in schools and youth groups.
Groundwork
You can access your local trust to find support for sustainable activities in your area. The regional pages give case studies and guidance, e.g. Groundwork London.
Handsworth Park
Case studies of sustainability in Handsworth Park.
It’s your Space
Sets out the ideals for caring for your local space.
Keep Britain Tidy
Keep Britain Tidy is the national litter abatement agency funded by government. The campaign is run by ENCAMS, which can provide publications, advice, research and campaign materials.
Learning through landscapes
Learning through Landscapes (LTL) campaign for children’s rights to decent school grounds and to help make school grounds better places.
Local Heritage Initiative
This involves the collection of records and stories from the projects to create a national archive of England’s local heritage. If you wish to investigate, explain or care for your local landscape, landmarks, traditions and culture you can apply for a grant of between £3,000 and £25,000.
London Park Explorer
Gives the possibilities for London parks and open spaces.
London Metropolitan Archives
Valuable resources for those in reach of the City of London.
Mind mapping
Much more on thinking skills.
NGfL Local History Trail
The National Grid for Learning local history trail helps you to find out about the people, places and events that have made your community what it is today. The trail features online activities to show you how to get started in local history, how to explore further and how to use the internet to help you discover the past.
OS MapZone
The Ordnance Survey’s map builder.
Our Street
This website tells the Our Street story online. Episode transcripts will be published the day after each broadcast. The site also gives you the chance to tell the story of your street. Go to ‘Your Story’ to find out how. Click on all the stories for a full range of the Australian experience of street development. This may have elements of reference for inner city streets as well as rural streets.
QCA ESD (Sustainability)
QCA ESD Activities
Safe Routes to School
Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, works on practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport for health, safety and environmental reasons. Their aim is to create a safe route to school for every child in the UK. The website gives information on school travel plans, and has case studies and a resource library.
Up My Street
Useful information (though not always entirely accurate) on transport and schools, providing basic knowledge that can be supplemented by the children’s own knowledge, which is often more detailed. Gives a local weather forecast and council office numbers and contacts.
Urban Geography
For material on a metropolitan urban survey.
World Wide Fund Books for sustainability
Books on sale via this site include the following:
Sandbach, T. and Borowski, R.(2001) Exploring Towns and Cities
Symmons, G (1998). Making it Happen
Midwinter, C. (1995) Our Street Our World
Bowles, R.(2001) Primary Internet Investigator
Kendell, P. (2002) Thinking Skills

This Street Furniture Survey provided by the Becta Direct2U service involves a careful survey of street furniture in the local area, and linking data gathered to a map.

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