It seemed quite a while since our last meeting (October 2024); just the way terms and holidays have fallen. However, we finally managed to get together once again for the second virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting of this academic year. On board this morning were representatives from over 35 schools across England, some familiar faces alongside a few newbies, with others accessing the recording at a later date due to staff sickness, lack of cover, etc. Yesterday, I also delivered an in situ version of today’s session in conjunction with GLOSSI, Gloucestershire County Council’s School Improvement team, where I engaged with a further 30 plus schools, so it has been a very busy couple of days!
After formally welcoming everyone and introducing myself, I outlined the aims and proposed format for the meeting.
We then moved on to the legendary ‘educational round-up‘, where I shared a number of resources, websites, forthcoming events, CPD opportunities, competitions and freebies with delegates. I paused for a few minutes to enable teachers to bookmark those that were most relevant to them and their cohort/school. In addition, I encouraged individuals to either unmute their microphone or make use of the chat feed to highlight anything that they had come across recently which might be useful to others too. I try to keep abreast of developments, but sometimes I do miss things.
The main part of the meeting was divided into two sections. The first before break provided an overview of ‘speaking and listening like a geographer‘. I began by referencing the Oracy Education Commission’s recent report, ‘We need to talk‘, focusing on what oracy is … and isn’t; the fourth ‘R’; the definitions and dimensions of oracy; oracy and subjects and conceptualising the place of oracy in a school’s subject curricula (https://oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/oec-report/). Mention was made to the Geographical Association (GA) response to the review of the curriculum and asssessment and its links to oracy too (https://geography.org.uk/gas-response-to-the-review-of-curriculum-and-assessment/). Back in December 2020, Kate Stockings contributed to an episode of the Geographical Association (GA)’s GeogPod on ‘how to speak like a geographer‘, which is worth listening to (https://www.katestockings.com/geographycurriculum/geogpod-how-to-speak-like-a-geographer). I projected a breakdown of the topics discussed and emphasised which ones were particularly relevant to our audience. I posed the following question to my Twitter/X geography contacts: ‘Anything on oracy/speaking like a geographer for primary?‘. I received the below response from Anthony Barlow, ITE Educator in the School of Education at the University of Roehampton in London, as well as an active member of the Geographical Association (GA) Early Years and Primary Phase Committee (EYPPC):
‘For me, in primary using the NC [National Curriculum] named H&P [human and physical geography] list as the centre of a vocab ‘sun’ w/[with] words radiating out. Vocab + connected contexts + image-richness and diverse perspectives. Vocab overload can mean connection is vital, support needed for KS1/2.’
Anthony gave me inspiration for the below activity, which we attempted in small groups in break-out rooms and then fed back to all in the main meeting room afterwards. This could be a highly effective aid for teachers wishing to create subject-specific vocabulary banks for their current or future units.
In late January 2025, Fiona Sheriff wrote a post for Tutor2U’s blog, entitled ‘Improving literacy in geography‘ (https://www.tutor2u.net/geography/blog/improving-literacy-in-geography). Whilst this concentrated on secondary geography, many items have relevance at primary level too. A couple of strategies referred to were tried out by individuals at this point with some interesting results. Many now felt confident to trial these approaches themselves when back in the classroom; I look forward to hearing about their experiences.
I suggested that participants took a look at Mrs Geography’s blog (https://mrsgeographyblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/09/speak-like-a-geographer/) and @jennnnnn_x on Twitter/X (https://x.com/Jennnnnn_x) if the wished to gain some inspiration for ‘speak like a geographer‘ displays.
Furthermore, I directed teachers towards My Chartered College‘s website as there is a great table on ‘ways to develop oracy in the classroom‘ (https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/we-have-a-voice-developing-oracy-across-the-geography-curriculum/).
The Geographical Association (GA) has a section on their website referring to ‘speaking and listening like a geographer‘. This has a wealth of material, way too much to cover in just a morning’s session. I extracted what I deemed to be the most pertinent messages and shared these with teachers, namely a quote from Biddulph et al. in 2015; the introduction; a document outlining what Ofsted says about speaking and listening in geography (https://geography.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GA_ITE_SFT_Ofsted_speaking_and_listening.pdf); disciplinary oracy; activities to create students’ quality talk and their ‘Making my place in the world’ project that ran back in 2011-2012 and was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (https://geography.org.uk/curriculum-support/projects/project-archive/making-my-place-in-the-world/).
I encouraged delegates to explore PlanBee‘s Oracy Framework (https://planbee.com/products/oracy-framework?variant=54844342894975), Oracy Activities Guide (https://planbee.com/products/oracy-activities-guide?variant=45747620020470) and Questioning Strategies Guide (https://planbee.com/products/questioning-strategies-guide), all of which are free to download. Last week, I attended a webinar organised by First News on ‘Why oracy matters: How to improve outcomes through talk‘. A recording is available to view here: https://shorturl.at/CpgG9 and there is also a free classroom debates resources pack for use with Upper Key Stage 2 pupils (https://shorturl.at/Ueujo ).
Following a short comfort break (you should not sit in your seat for longer than an hour at a time ideally!), we reconvened to look at some examples of ‘speaking and listening like a geographer’; activities I have instigated as part of virtual multi-schools or single-school events that I have co-delivered, which have been well-received and had very positive impacts. Where possible, we trialled these and had time for reflection after each one to consider how we might adopt, adapt or develop such activities in our day-to-day teaching. Both the activities and reflection generated much discussion among delegates via the chat feed. It was great to witness such enthusiasm to become involved, the effective brainstorming and willingness to collaborate.
The meeting concluded with the usual time for reflection. Teachers were asked to complete an online evaluation form to identify the key takeaways and their next steps, as well as providing vital feedback for me (what they enjoyed the most; what they enjoyed the least; what items they would like included in our next meeting).
Some of their ‘concluding comments‘ (summing up the meeting in five words or a sentence or two) can be viewed below:
Activities; oracy; vocabulary; speaking like a geographer.
Emma’s networks are absolutely amazing! Very well planned, informative and fun! I always come away inspired to implement changes.
Current. Thought-provoking. Reflective. Well-paced. Pertinent.
Very informative for a new lead.
Very informative, with plenty of ideas for practical activities.
Very informative, lots of useful resources and ideas.
Inspiring; informative; collaborative.
Great opportunities for our Geography Subject Leader.
Informative; helpful; inspiring.
Informative; current; useful.
Eye-opening; interesting; overwhelming; inspiring; knowledgeable.
Informative; helpful; purposeful.
A good way for all children to access and get the most out of their geography lessons.
Thought-provoking; packed with resources; lots to go away and implement and share.
Lots of great, practical strategies!
Useful round-up and resources.
Lots of useful resources shared for different age groups. I enjoyed the examples of classroom practice to develop ‘speaking and listening like a geographer’.
Today’s session has been very informative.
Extremely useful in terms of resources and reading shared.
Your networks are always extremely informative and I go away buzzing after them. My head is full of information. I always have information to pass on to every year group too.
Thank you, really useful and lots to think about!
Interactive; supportive; comprehensive; enjoyable; brilliant.
Thanks so much. Really enjoyed it!
Thanks, that was brilliant!
Thank you. This has been very helpful.
Thanks so much, Emma. When is the next one again?
Thank you very much. Has been very useful and informative!
Thank you – very helpful.
Thank you, Emma – a great session.
Thank you, Emma. Today has been very informative.
Thanks for everything this morning, really enjoyed it.
Really enjoyable session yesterday with lots of excellent resources and information.
It appears to have been a worthwhile way to spend a Friday morning at the start of a new term. I look forward to hearing about, and seeing evidence of, your endeavours between now and our next virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting on Thursday 22nd May 2025.
Hope Term 4 provides some valuable and enjoyable teaching and learning experiences for all.