Well, Zoom certainly brought a buzz to my study on Wednesday afternoon! Not only did I have several ‘regulars’ in attendance at our virtual Primary Humanities Network meeting, but also many new participants; I think we had teachers from as far afield as Cumbria in the north to Dorset in the south and Nottinghamshire in the east to Greater Manchester in …
Primary Humanities Network meeting (Term 4)
A meeting with a difference! Held virtually with the aid of Zoom software, rather than in situ as planned due to the coronavirus outbreak. I debated whether to go ahead with our meeting, but several teachers were self-isolating and still keen to participate. I have recorded the session, however, and am more than happy to share this and the accompanying …
GITEP trainees (Ribston Hall High School (RHHS), Gloucestershire
It was back to one of the schools that I spent seven happy years teaching at today. However, this time it was not to teach, but to deliver a session to GITEP trainees (‘So, what does history look like in primary schools?’) after being approached by Rebecca Rose, Teacher of History, ITE Training Manager and NQT Induction Tutor, as well as …
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 …
Primary Humanities Network meeting (Gloucestershire Heritage Hub, Gloucester)
A warm welcome awaited us at the Gloucestershire Heritage Hub (https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/heritage-hub/) on Thursday 16th January 2020 for our third Primary Humanities Network meeting of this academic year. Previous Wi-Fi issues had been resolved, so we were able to use the new Dunrossil Centre as our base for the afternoon. Despite many schools being involved in Young Voices, the turnout was still …
Curriculum development (Churchdown Village Junior School [CVJS], Gloucestershire)
And, more curriculum development today! It was back to Churchdown Village Junior School (CVJS) just outside the city of Gloucester to work with Emma Aldred-Tow, a very experienced Geography Subject Leader, to see how we might make their current geography curriculum offering even better. The school attained their Primary Geography Quality Mark (PGQM) Silver Award a few years ago and …
Primary Humanities Network meeting, Gloucestershire Heritage Hub
Our second meeting of this academic year, with the theme of ‘Ofsted’s new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) and the 3Is – Part 2’, was again held at the newly refurbished Gloucestershire Heritage Hub (https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/heritage-hub), thanks to their very kind offer to host the event and supply complimentary refreshments. Instead of being in the Dunrossil Centre, we were based in the Frith …
Primary Geography Quality Mark (PGQM) Day, Parkinson Lane Community Primary School, Halifax
No travel for me, but remote working instead as Halifax was a little too far to go in a day. Using Skype, I managed to link up with David Weatherly (http://davidweatherlyeducation.co.uk/), who was on site at Parkinson Lane Community Primary School (https://www.parkinsonlane.com/) to deliver some bespoke CPD related to the Geographical Association’s Primary Geography Quality Mark (PGQM) award. David has …
Edward Feild Primary School, Kidlington, Oxfordshire
Well, it was certainly beyond county for me today; a trip to Kidlington, just north of the city of Oxford, to deliver some bespoke CPD on behalf of the Geographical Association (GA) (https://www.geography.org.uk/) (and not an easy or pleasant one given the snow and localised flooding). The remit that I was given from the GA prior to half-term was ‘To …
Regional Primary History Conference (David Weatherly Education)
Well, it was once again time to pop alomg to David Weatherly’s annual Regional Primary History Conference. The theme for this academic year was ‘Achieving secure chronological knowledge and understanding through thematic investigations’. For those of you not ‘in the know’, David is a School Improvement Adviser and an accomplished teacher with an international reputation as an inspiring trainer. Whether working …