China's SHEIN village

A cross posting from my GeographyTeacher 2.0 blog which includes details from my teaching.

China has several towns which are famous for the production of particular items, just as cities in the UK used to be connected with particular industries e.g. textiles in Manchester, hats in Luton etc.

SHEIN is one of the most popular websites for buying low cost (and therefore low quality) items. 

There is a town in China which dedicates a great deal of manufacturing to producing items for this website.

This is a useful video describing the impact this has:

Thanks to Fiona Sheriff for the lead to this particular video.

Perfect for our unit on Fast Fashion with Year 8.

Powerful knowledge in the classroom

A new book was added to the library of books made freely available by UCL Press at the end of last week. The books are available on the UCL Press website, and JSTOR.

The latest books is about bringing powerful knowledge into the classroom.

The geography chapter has been written by Dr. Alex Standish. It explores the curriculum thinking of two heads of department, who consider how knowledge is explored in their classrooms.

It's a fairly short chapter and is worth a read.

Everest controversy

At the very end of the climbing season we had one final news story which led to some controversy.

Ed Conway - stories of stuff

Ed Conway has written widely on the use of resources that creates our material world. This is connected to our Year 8 topic on consumption and the geography of our 'stuff'...

As Ed says in the introduction to the podcast - stuff matters:

The pitch behind it is each week we take an object - for the most case an everyday product you probably have inside your home - and ask a few seemingly obvious questions that turn out to have not-at-all-obvious answers. Where did it come from? How was it made? And, most intriguingly of all, what can it teach us about the world.

I’ve long had a feeling - something you’ll have picked up on if you’ve read Material World or watched much of my output for Sky News - that there are marvellous, magical, sometimes-disturbing stories just beneath the surface of the everyday items we mostly take for granted. Ponder concrete and you understand the bizarre underbelly of sand production. Consider copper and you look at the world of power afresh.

Well, to some extent that’s the idea behind Stuff Matters. Every episode is a journey deep into the rabbit holes you sometimes find yourselves swept into (well, I do at least) when considering the objects around you. So we’ve spoken to Nobel-prize winning scientists, businesses making missiles, the world’s greatest experts in how to ripen fruit, and a few other folks as well. If there is a subtitle to this effort (possibly also my entire career), it is that supposedly boring stuff is often actually tremendously interesting

On Sunday for example he posted an episode about Apple Airpods.

That satisfying snap when you close an AirPods case is powered by one of the most important materials in the modern world.

Hidden inside are tiny magnets made from rare earth elements: obscure minerals that help power everything from smartphones and wind turbines to fighter jets and electric cars. They’re also at the centre of one of the biggest geopolitical struggles of our time

In this episode, Ed Conway follows the story of rare earths from an obscure Swedish town and the Manhattan Project to modern China, where decades of industrial strategy have given Beijing extraordinary control over a resource the rest of the world depends on.

Along the way, he explores the strange economics of rare earth mining, the environmental costs hidden behind modern technology, and the growing fear that global supply chains can be turned into weapons.

Circular Economy at the World Cup 2026

One to save for next year....

Financial Times piece.

Nike sponsored kits for the FIFA men's World Cup 2026 were made from a new material made from textile waste (rather than recycled plastic bottles) to better cope with the heat at the venues.

It's called Aero-FIT.

This provides better thermal comfort.

It also gives hope to a sector which has not been doing well.

King's Ely from the air

A new aerial film of the school campus... looking good...

Iceland - made by volcanoes...

Iceland has been made by volcanoes. 

It developed along the point where a 'hot spot' or mantle plume coincided with a plate boundary.

Successive eruptions have laid layers of lava as flood basalts, spiked through with small effusive moments and the occasional larger eruption: Katla, Hekla, Laki etc.

Image: Natthagi Lavas - some people walking on lava just a few years old.

Do the benefits of this activity outweigh the potential risks and problems?

I asked my students to consider this question.

Do the Benefits of Volcanic Activity in Iceland outweigh the benefits? by Alan Parkinson

King's Ely at the RGS Chelsea Flower Show

I was pleased to see that some of my school’s grounds team had worked with one of our suppliers: Barcham Trees to team up for an exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. This is exciting news indeed. The school grounds are always well looked after, and form a useful location for on-site fieldwork. 

I am fortunate to have a lovely garden right outside my classroom window.

The story is here.

One connection is a famous tree we have in Ely.

Believed to date back to around 1674 and thought to be one of the original London planes in the UK, the tree stands within the grounds of the Bishop’s Old Palace — now home to King’s Ely Sixth Form Centre. Recognised as one of the UK’s Top 50 Great British Trees, the Ely London Plane has become an important symbol of the area’s heritage.

Since 2013, Barcham Trees and King’s Ely have worked together to propagate saplings from the historic tree, helping to preserve its legacy for future generations. Young trees grown from the Ely Plane can now be found in notable locations including the Sandringham Estate, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Barcham’s upcoming Barn & Garden project.

Find them at stand PW192 if you are going to the event.

Ropes have reached the summit

Thanks to Seven Summit Treks for their updates from the efforts to fix the ropes for the climbers this 2026 Climbing Season.

Here's a picture they posted on Facebook earlier showing the first Sherpa teams (and climbers) on the roof of the world. 
We shall be following over the next few weeks...

Image thanks to Seven Summits Treks on Facebook.

Good luck to all those pushing for the summit over the coming weeks, and the teams supporting them along the way.

"Once there was a mountain called Peak XV...."

Public Service Broadcasting telling the story of the expedition that conquered the mountain for the first time...

And here's the StoryMap that we used - which used to be hosted by National Geographic.

The welcome return of ERASMUS

Regular readers will know that I have been involved with ERASMUS projects for many years. These have included the DigitalEarth project - a huge undertaking involving meetings across Europe, the GeoCapabilities project, I-USE, D3, GI Learner and GI Pedagogy. Search the blog using the name of the project to find out more about them.

Two of these projects involved my current school, and my MFL and ICT colleagues were also involved in gaining funding for their projects as well.

I am currently involved with the EMO-GI project, as recent posts have shown - keep an eye on the project as it develops over the coming two years. I've been blogging about the progress so far. This is an interesting project with some ambitious outputs.

The British Council will be administering the ERASMUS+ funding on behalf of the UK as they did before we made the decision to leave the EU.

I recommend that you sign up to a newsletter to receive updates as we begin to find out more about what sort of funding will be possible for your school.

If you do sign up, you'll receive this message:

As the UK’s National Agency, the British Council will work with partners across education, youth and sport to deliver inclusive, high-quality opportunities for learners and professionals from all backgrounds.

We’ll keep you updated with:

• Key dates and timelines
• Information on eligibility
• Guidance on how to apply
• Stories and examples to help you prepare

International experience builds confidence. It builds skills. It builds futures.

I'm hoping to be involved with ERASMUS projects for some years to come, and am always available to add my expertise to projects.

Happy Birthday Sir David!

Sir David got out and about at school earlier today, visiting all the House assemblies in the Prep school and then taking a walk at lunchtime.

Happy Birthday Sir!

Chile's Fashion Graveyard

Where do your old clothes to to? You might be surprised.

A BBC Assignment programme explores a clothing graveyard which started to develop outside the town of Alto Hospicio in northern Chile, in the Atacama Desert.

Available on BBC Sounds.

Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth – often likened to Mars. It’s also home to piles of dumped clothes from fast fashion labels across the world. Because it’s so dry nothing decomposes. And that means that clothes ditched 10 to 20 years ago still look recognisable. Sometimes the mountains of clothes are burnt causing toxic fumes which harm the local community of Alto Hospicio.

This environmental crisis has been going on for years. It’s a complex situation with multiple players involved. But different groups are starting to take action.

For Assignment, Jane Chambers travels to the Atacama Desert to meet activists and locals trying to raise awareness. An enormous giant – El Gigante Vestido – is being created in the desert out of used clothes to get people talking.

We’ll hear if Chile’s authorities, businesses, activists and members of the local community are doing enough to make a significant difference to the clothes crisis.

Producer: Jane Chambers
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Penny Murphy

(Photo: El Gigante Vestido, a huge replica of the Gigante de Tarapacá built out of used t-shirts by architects Andrés Echeverría and Victoria García to raise awareness of the clothes being dumped in the Atacama Desert. Credit: Andrés Díaz)

This connects with the organisation that was set up by local residents to recycle some of the clothing, much of which has now been burnt.

I show this France 24 piece...

Teachmeet @20

I've previously posted about the 20th anniversary of Teachmeet this year.

Danny Nicholson is organising a special online Teachmeet on the 3rd of July.

Sign up to present - for a 2 or 7 minute slot. The names will be chosen at random for this.

Sign up to watch the Teachmeet here.

This is actually the first day of my summer break, so will be a nice way to end the term by picking up lots of ideas from those who are chosen to present.

Attenborough at 100

The BBC is pulling out all the stops with a special event to mark the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough.

This will take place on his birthday itself, the 8th of May.

To mark Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, Kirsty Young presents a ninety minute special event honouring one of the most influential figures in broadcasting and natural history storytelling.

Broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London, jointly staged and produced by BBC Studios Music Productions and Natural History Unit, and in partnership with The Open University, airs on his birthday, Friday 8 May at 8.30pm, on BBC One and iPlayer.

Kirsty Young said: “Sir David’s gift to the world has been a life spent exquisitely revealing Earth’s wonders to us all. The very least he deserves is a big 100th birthday bash at the Royal Albert Hall! I’m very happy indeed, as the host, to be able to invite everyone to the party.”

As it brings the nation together to celebrate and honour David’s groundbreaking career, David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth will take audiences on an extraordinary journey through a century of exploration and discovery in the natural world, seen through the prism of David’s remarkable life and work.

The evening combines some of the most memorable wildlife moments from the BBC’s natural history archive, with live music drawn from David’s most iconic television series, alongside reflections from public figures and leading voices in conservation and wildlife filmmaking.

As the celebrations unfold, Kirsty will be joined on stage by those who have worked with David and been inspired by his work over the years, including broadcasters Liz Bonnin, Steve Backshall, Chris Packham, and Michael Palin, who will reflect on the impact of David’s work, the legacy he continues to shape and his unique ability to bring the wonders of the natural world into people’s homes.

Accompanied throughout by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the programme will feature iconic music from landmark series including Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. The orchestra will perform scores associated with some of television’s most unforgettable sequences, including the dramatic snakes and iguanas chase from Planet Earth II and the powerful wave-washing orcas sequence from Frozen Planet II.

The evening will also feature special performances from music artists who have collaborated on these series. Dan Smith, frontman of Brit Award winning band Bastille, will join the BBC Concert Orchestra to perform the band’s famous track Pompeii, featured in Planet Earth III, while Icelandic band Sigur Rós will perform Hoppípolla. The track was used in the promotion of Planet Earth and Planet Earth II.

Other musical highlights include Sienna Spiro, one of the most exciting new voices in British music, and Paraguayan harpist Francisco Yglesia, who will play the traditional Pajaro Campana, a piece that featured in Zoo Quest.

Bringing together breathtaking wildlife imagery, live orchestral and contemporary music, and contributions from those who have worked alongside David throughout his career and those who feel passionately about the natural world, the programme celebrates not only a broadcasting legend, but a century long relationship between audiences and nature.

We will celebrate his birthday at school too but in slightly less grand circumstances.