Summer ’23: Catching up on overdue reports

It has been a while since Bristol GA has posted reports. We saw a variety of events from Dec ’22 to March ’23: A lecture, teacher training, competition for sixth-formers, and exam preparation session – all extremely well received. See below.

6th Dec 2022: Dr. Negar Behzadi, Female coalminers in Tajikistan

Janet Neil introduces Negar Behzadi, University of Bristol, ahead of her talk on ethnographic work in Tajikistan

Dr. Behzadi, from the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, described her ethnographic work focussing on female miners and their communities in Tajikistan. An inspirational talk that explored the social fabric of the community as they experienced global, and local, political and economic change. Imagery and video added to the narrative. We strongly recommend a look at the video produced in collaboration with Kate Jessop.

Nadirah: Coal Woman from Kate Jessop on Vimeo.

24th Jan 2023: Dr. Harry West, UWE, on use of Survey123 in the classroom and beyond

Local geography educators (school and university) were guided though the use of ArcGIS Survey123, one of the suite of ESRI products that can support survey methods in both physical and human geography. The software syncs across desktop, online and app portals. It’s described as simple and intuitive, and we can attest to this. Within 45 mins, we had designed a form for data gathering and embarked on a walk in freezing temperatures around the University of Bristol precinct to collect geolocated data. This was illustrated as both point data and heat maps on return without difficulty. This would be easy to implement for a field trip exercise with suitable planning and a quick trial ahead of departure.

Harry West presented the use of Survey123, part of the ESRI package, in a practical session.

3rd Mar 2023: Michelle Graffagnino leads a competition for local sixth-formers on urban regeneration

Michelle Graffagnino with excellent support from PGCE students from the University of Bristol hosted a day-long widening participation event for local sixth-formers. The event was themed around urban regeneration and included talks on Temple Quarter in Bristol (Andrew Tallon, UWE) and UCAS advice (David Richards, Univ. Bristol). Teaching facilities in Law and Earth Sciences in the Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol, provided the setting. All sorts of great ideas and potential solutions were presented in a role-play exercise that considered sustainable solutions to regeneration of a brown-field site.

University of Bristol (supported by Bristol GA) host decision-making exercise for local sixth-formers on urban regeneration.

3rd Mar 2023: Michelle Graffagnino hosts an exam preparation session of Y12 and Y13 students

Students engaging in this session will have boosted their chances of a great result in their summer exams. By unpacking the questions and thinking about strategies for their answers, they will have been better prepared. Revision skills were also provided.

Enjoy the summer.

Wishing all the best for Results Day.

See you next year. A great 2023-24 programme is emerging.