This evening, it was time to train governors at Huntley C of E Primary School in Gloucestershire (https://www.huntleyprimaryschool.co.uk/) all about Ofsted inspections on behalf of the Governor Services team at Gloucestershire County Council. Given the ongoing roadworks and bridge repairs along the A40 near Over, it was decided to opt for a virtual session to enable as many members of …
Time for another Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting!
A busy couple of weeks ahead for me, engaging with over 60 schools, either virtually or in situ, as part of the first round of Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meetings this academic year. Due to Sandra Parker’s growing commitments at GLOSSI (Gloucestershire’s School Improvement Service), the baton for oversight of primary geography has now been handed to the …
Virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting (3)
Thursday morning saw our final virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting of this academic year, which had a focus on quality assurance (QA). Presenting alongside myself was Mark Enser, former National Lead for Geography for Ofsted as well as an HMI and now offering independent support to schools. We were joined by representatives from over 30 schools across …
Wow … ‘the colours of Antarctica’!
It was time for GlosGeog‘s second event of this academic year; a virtual, interactive speaker session aimed at Key Stage 3 students and their teachers. This afternoon, through my work with Rhianna Davies-Smith at Wicked Weather Watch, a charity based in Box in Wiltshire, we were able to welcome Hanna Yevchun, a female polar ecologist based at the National Antarctic …
How to ‘dig deeper’!
GlosGeog was very fortunate to be able to pin Alan Parkinson down for an afternoon; after all, he is such a busy man juggling so many important roles. With 27 schools from across the UK on board in real time, we had a full house. After formally welcoming and introducing everyone, I handed over to Alan so that we could …
All were certainly up for our sustainability art challenge!
It was time to launch another week long project with primary schools today; a half day workshop at the beginning of the week and a half hour showcase on the Friday afternoon with time in between for teachers and pupils to participate in a sustainable art challenge. On board today to explore the question, ‘How can we make plastic fantastic?‘, were more than 670 Key Stage 2 …
Time for a new offering!
Following a very thought-provoking and topical presentation given by Anthony Barlow at GlosGeog’s virtual Primary Geography Teach Meet entitled ‘Plastic Fantastic!‘ (https://create2inspire.co.uk/2024/04/23/glosgeogs-virtual-primary-teach-meet-is-a-big-hit/), I approached Rhianna Davies-Smith at Wicked Weather Watch (https://wickedweatherwatch.org.uk/) to see if we might be able to incorporate some of the ideas and messages into a new virtual offering. After much discussion, it was decided to trial a …
Virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network meeting (2)
Since Term 4 was now well underway for all schools, it was time for our second virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network meeting of this academic year. I had presented at another event earlier in the week in conjunction with GLOSSI (Gloucestershire School Improvement) team. Participants relished the chance to network with other individuals in a similar role to themselves …
British Council: ‘Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning: Critical thinking and problem solving’ (Day 2)
Well, it was back to the Gloucestershire Heritage Hub (https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/heritage-hub/) again today to deliver Day 2 of the British Council’s ‘Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning: Critical thinking and problem solving’ course. We were based in the new Dunrossil Centre and being a small group were able to spread out and make ourselves very comfortable, as well as having access to …