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 secures Professor Ilan Kelman to speak!
Professor Ilan Kelman‘s book, ‘Disaster by Choice‘, is one that is found in many a geography classroom around the world. As a result, this event, coordinated by GlosGeog (Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association [GA] branch), proved to be very popular, with over 40 schools from the UK and mainland Europe opting to access the speaker session in real time or via …
Geography GIS day
Today saw me head over to the University of Gloucestershire’s Francis Close Hall Campus in Cheltenham for a geography GIS day. GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association (GA) branch, had supported this event through sourcing input for two of the workshops and promotion. Whilst GlosGeog had been keen to organise a day earlier in the academic year, this was not feasible …
Time to be immersed in all things geographical!
Last week, I headed up north for the Geographical Association (GA) Annual Conference and Exhibition held at Sheffield College City Campus from 8th to 10th April 2026. The current GA President, Catherine Owen, had selected the theme, ‘Geography makes a difference‘. What a jam-packed and invigorating three days it was! Not only did I manage to catch up with many …
A very timely virtual speaker session on the back of COP30
This afternoon, teachers and students from more than 25 schools across the UK and beyond convened for GlosGeog‘s second virtual speaker session of this academic year. We were very fortunate to secure Dr Harry West, Senior Lecturer and Programme leader for Geography and Environmental Practitioner Degree Apprenticeship at the University of the West of England, for an hour or so …
And, now one for Key Stage 4 and 5 students!
It was time for our first virtual speaker session of this academic year. Dr Chris Spencer, Senior Lecturer in Geography and Environmental Management in the School of Architecture and Environment at the University of the West of England, kindly agreed to give up his time to speak to Key Stage 4 and 5 students about the link between water and …
Twilight CPD session (Oliver Tomkins C of E VA Schools)
This afternoon, it was the turn of staff at Oliver Tomkins C of E VA Schools in Swindon, Wiltshire, to receive some twilight training. Having previously worked with their Geography and History Subject Leaders and had lengthy discussions with the Headteacher, I had a clear insight into their current whole school geography and history curricula, plus cohort and surroundings. Between us, we …
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 …
A morning contemplating geographical skills and fieldwork
Our latest GlosGeog event (a CPD workshop aimed at primary school teachers, ECTs and trainees) was kindly hosted by The Balcarras Trust (https://www.balcarras.gloucs.sch.uk/). On board today were individuals from 18 schools across the county, some current GlosGeog members and others whom we soon recruited! Darren Bailey, from Ordnance Survey (OS), joined us for the first part to provide an overview …
Time for another twilight CPD
This afternoon, it was the turn of staff at Bretherton Endowed C of E Primary School, close to Chorley in Lancashire, to receive some twilight training. Having previously worked with their Geography Subject Leader and had lengthy discussions with the Headteacher, I had a clear insight into their current whole school geography curriculum, plus cohort and surroundings. Between us, we …