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 …
A new week-long initiative
Hover over the images to reveal captions. Click on the images to enlarge them. It was a slightly different approach to our workshops this week. Instead of the usual one day, virtual multi-schools event, we decided to trial spreading the content over the course of a week to enable youngsters and teachers to fully engage with the material, have more …
A spot of bespoke CPD (geography)
This week has been devoted to bespoke CPD. Today, it was a session with the Geography Subject Leader 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 Geography Subject Leader to share documentation and establish …
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 rather ambitious Arctic adventure!
Hover over the images to reveal captions. Click on the images to enlarge them. This week began with a rather ambitious virtual trip to the Arctic. On board today was an enthusiastic bunch of over 330 Upper Key Stage 2 pupils and their teachers from six schools located throughout the UK, namely St. James’ C of E Primary Academy (https://stj.hslt.academy/) …
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 …
Another round of bespoke CPD!
I really do enjoy working directly with schools, whether virtually or in situ, to review and develop their whole school curriculum offering for geography. Today, I met via Zoom with the Geography Subject Leader at Prince Avenue Academy and Nursery in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex (https://www.princeavenue.co.uk/) to look at ways to integrate effective fieldwork from EYFS to the end of Key Stage …
Time to travel to the Arctic!
Hover over the images to reveal captions. Click on the images to enlarge them. Another busy week for me, starting with a virtual trip to the Arctic. On board today was an enthusiastic bunch of more than 230 Upper Key Stage 2 pupils and their teachers from three schools, namely The Olive School in Blackburn, Lancashire (https://www.oliveblackburn.com/), Buxton Junior School …
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 …
Colder climes call!
Hover over the images to reveal captions. Click on the images to enlarge them. The start of a new academic year and time for another virtual trip to the Arctic. Today, we were joined by an enthusiastic bunch of more than 120 Key Stage 2 pupils and their teachers from two schools, namely Hayfield Lane Primary School in Auckley near …