Currently focussing on Human Geography, the students were tasked with investigating the opportunities created by the £125-million-pound Flemingate retail and leisure development. They created a land use map to chart the usage of space within the development, categorising each unit of land to assess the range of opportunities that are available to its visitors.

Opened in November 2015, the Flemingate shopping centre occupies the site of a former chemical works. The area’s total transformation from industrial to leisure use provided students with the perfect platform to develop their knowledge of urban redevelopment and planning as they explored the question: ‘To what extent has the Flemingate development increased opportunities for recreation and entertainment in Beverley?’.

The students spent the first part of the day in Beverley town centre where they carried out pedestrian flow counts and canvassed shoppers. The group then made their way to Flemingate where they compared footfall and sought opinions on the success of the development as an urban redevelopment project.

Early findings revealed that despite some big retail and restaurant changes, which are attracting a great number of visitors, the centre of Beverley itself still remains a popular destination for shoppers.

The data collected during this fieldwork opportunity will be used as part of the continuing preparations for the ‘Paper 3’ exam – half of which will assess what students understand about fieldwork; the processes they used to collect data and how they will use the data effectively.

Sarah Harris, Progress Leader for Humanities, said: “Fieldwork is an essential part of studying Geography as it helps to bring the subject to life outside the classroom. It inspires independent learning and increases understanding of the topics being studied.

“The students were keen to carry out their questionnaires. They spoke clearly and enthusiastically about their fieldwork studies and the members of the public they encountered were very complimentary about their professionalism. Students learned a great deal from speaking to the public about Flemingate and these valuable conversations will help them to reach valid conclusions in their on-going studies.”

Feedback from the students was equally positive, with Alfie Watt saying: “Where do I start? Overall, the day was totally awesome and there was a brilliant variety of shops. The people were so friendly and keen to answer our questions.”

In the coming weeks, the Year 11 Geographers will process their fieldwork findings as part of their ongoing preparation for the exams in summer. The data collected will be used to assess the extent of the leisure and recreational opportunities that have been created by the Flemingate development.

This work will sit alongside their exploration of the East Riding’s contrasting coastline, conducted during their first fieldwork experience back in June, which saw the students visit Mappleton and Hornsea as part of the ‘physical’ element of their GCSE Geography course.

Data collected from this experience has been used as the basis for an investigation into the success of existing coastal management strategies, giving students the opportunity to draw their own conclusions as to their overall effectiveness, and to explore whether or not, in their opinion, improvements could be made.