Margate – one of the country’s original seaside resorts – has been central to a special study by children at the town’s St Gregory’s Catholic Primary.
Year 5 and 6 pupils ventured into the high street and seafront areas using a route map they devised to quiz businesses, shoppers and people on the street about their views on tourism.
Using questionnaires they had prepared in class, the team gained a range of differing answers to questions including what is the biggest benefit and hindrance of the leisure industry.
Their main conclusion was that litter left behind by visitors was the biggest draw-back especially on the main sands; this was countered by the fact that tourism is vitally important to the economic well-being of the town.
Back in class they used computers to present the data they had collated.
It was the culmination of a topic where the children described and explained how humans can impact the environment both positively and negatively.
They also developed ordnance survey skills recognising symbols on maps and locating features using six-figure grid references.
Athanasia Papa-Adams, Head of Upper Key Stage 2, said: “It was wonderful for our children to have the opportunity to go into the community and apply their learning to find out about tourism in our locality.
“We then used the data we had collected to graph our results using ICT so this had fabulous cross-curricular links to Maths and computing.”
The key knowledge pupils learnt included awareness of some important issues in the local area, to understand what a range of data methods look like and how to use these information collection methods.
Head Teacher Dave Walker said: “As well as being an integral part of their topic work, the visit in to Margate gave the children a greater understanding of what makes the town’s tourism tick. It was an important exercise in heritage, culture and social history.”
*Margate has been a leading seaside resort for at least 250 years and was originally a traditional holiday destination for Londoners drawn to its sandy beaches.
