Mid-June and time for the geography southwest Annual Conference, held, once again, at the University of the West of England (UWE) on the northern outskirts of Bristol, but today in a new venue, the Enterprise Park 1 building. Simon Ross, John Davidson, plus Dr Harry West and colleagues at UWE, had done a sterling job of pulling everything together. My …
GlosGeog’s first virtual speaker session of 2026!
This afternoon, GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association (GA) branch, welcomed 17 schools, largely from the south west of England, to hear Dr Billy Clayton (a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Human Geography at the University of the West of England [UWE]) talk about ‘Changing places – Banksy and BLM: Cultural change in Bristol‘. Bristol is a case study referenced …
History’s turn now!
This week has been devoted to bespoke CPD. Today, it was a session with the History Subject Leaders at Oliver Tomkins C of E VA Schools near Swindon, Wiltshire (https://www.olivertomkinsschools.co.uk/swindon/primary/olivertomkins). Prior to this morning’s virtual session, there had been a brief conversation and number of e-mails sent between myself, the Headteacher and History Subject Leaders to share documentation and establish ‘where they were at’. This …
Time to practise some geographical skills, along with a spot of human geography
‘These highly interactive webinars [offered by the Geographical Association (GA)] provide primary teachers with the substantive knowledge to enable them to deliver relevant, engaging and stimulating geography lessons. Focusing on different subjects each session, this course provides practical, transferable ideas to trial before rolling them out in the classroom. Take this knowledge even further by exploring the multiple connections, stereotypes …
Enhancing cultural diversity in history and geography (EYFS to Year 6)
Time for me to be trained! I attended a similar event that David Weatherly and Sheena Wright delivered last year, but it only focused on EYFS. Whilst there was a little overlap today, it was good to be able to consider this important theme across all Key Stages. David is a School Improvement Adviser and an accomplished teacher at all …
Bespoke CPD (Part 2)!
It was, once again, time to reconvene with the History Subject Leader at Lawrence View Primary and Nursery School in Eastwood, Nottingham (https://www.lawrenceviewprimary.co.uk/) to continue our discussions around their whole school curriculum map for the subject. Following our previous session, the History Subject Leader had revisited my suggested websites, resources and ideas. I was really impressed with the progress that she …
Time to put my history hat on!
It was time to draw on my experience of teaching across the humanities today; some bespoke CPD with a history stance. I had previously worked with the Geography Subject Leader at Lawrence View Primary and Nursery School in Eastwood, Nottingham (https://www.lawrenceviewprimary.co.uk/) and her colleague, with responsibility for history, approached me to see if I could spend some time looking at …
CPD workshop: Children as landscape detectives
GlosGeog, our local Geographical Association (GA) branch, was able to run another FREE half day CPD event for local teachers entitled ‘Children as landscape detectives‘ thanks to the support of Peter Vujakovic, Emeritus Professor of Geography at Canterbury Christ Church University and Odyssey Teaching School Hub at Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (https://www.patesgs.org/). Due to the format of the workshop and sets of resources available, …
Time for some CPD for me!
I always look forward to David Weatherly’s training days as they leave me feeling enthused and inspired. The theme for today’s event was ‘writing and resourcing high-quality enquiries (EYFS to Year 6) in geography and history‘. David has a wealth of experience within this area having written Harper Collins’ Primary Connected Geography and Primary Connected History series, which both promote …
Virtual ‘In the Know’ webinar (Session 2), Geographical Association
It was time for us to reconvene for Session 2 of this ‘In the Know’ webinar series. Further details about the whole series can be found by accessing the web-link below: https://portal.geography.org.uk/event/view/E000092 The aims of these sessions are to enhance delegates’ subject knowledge of several key geographical themes, plus increase their confidence to teach such topics both in and beyond the classroom. Many teaching …