As part of their geographical investigation into a changing human environment, a group of twenty Year 12 Geography students spent a day in Cardiff Bay collecting data on the regeneration of the area. In preceding lessons they researched the history of ‘Tiger Bay’, planned the fieldwork and designed the recording sheets and materials used to carry out the fieldwork in the Bay area.

Each student completed land use, public art and housing surveys; traffic and pedestrian counts; bipolar environmental surveys, field sketches and asked members of the public to fill out short questionnaires. They also had the opportunity to watch a DVD presentation about the decline of the Docks, the controversial decision to construct the Barrage and the status of the redevelopment to date; this was kindly organised by the Tourist Information Service, now based in the Millennium Centre.

The students were confident, enthusiastic and diligent in their tasks and collected an extensive array of data. The day was made all the more memorable by a flat minibus battery, a Good Samaritan, a friendly cyclist and the taxi rides back to school.

They are now busy working on the presentation, analysis and interpretation of their results and are producing detailed reports on the relative successes and failures of the regeneration scheme; taking account of a variety of viewpoints and perspectives. Their reports will form the basis of investigation questions in their upcoming exam. Well done and good luck, Year 12!