December 2025

December 15th: New boardings up at the Carpenters Estate
With Stratford being such a popular location for GCSE fieldwork and working across 8 schools as I do in my current role, I visit Stratford many times a year…
I’ve blogged about using Stratford for urban fieldwork here and about how I teach the Olympic Park and Carpenters Estate at A-Level here and here.

On a recent visit I noticed new boards up and around the tower blocks of the Carpenters Estate meaning that the regeneration of the estate is, finally, getting underway.
Watch this space… our GCSE fieldwork plans might have to change in the near future!

December 14th: Books, books, books- what better gift is there?
Given how much I love a geographical-read, I thought it might be useful to share some of my top-reads of the year and what I’d recommend for anyone you might be looking to treat to a good book!

For any geography teacher, ‘Environomics’ was my best curriculum-related read of the year and a book I think all would enjoy. As I explain here, in many ways, this is a similar book to Hannah Ritchie’s Not the End of the World but, personally, I found it much more readable.

I gave ‘Invisible Lines’ to a family member for their birthday earlier in the year and it went down a treat.
I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in general geography / history / geo-politics and likes to be able to explain the world around them!

Although not strictly geographical, I have loved dipping into ‘Wonderland: A year in Britain’s Wildlife Day by Day’ throughout the year as part of my quest to improve my knowledge of the natural world. I’ve bought it for my father-in-law who enjoys time spent outdoors in rural Herefordshire and will hopefully enjoy topping up his knowledge of lesser-known species and habitats. It’s also got a beautiful cover so would make a good coffee-table addition…

It might also be useful to see what books I found less enjoyable / useful recently. These are shared here.