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 …
Virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting (2)
We are now well into Term 3, so it must be time for us all to meet up again, albeit virtually. On board today were over 30 individuals from schools across the UK, many regulars keen to come back for more, as well as a few newbies, who are always welcome. Mark Enser, former National Geography Lead for Ofsted and …
Round two of climate action planning!
This morning, we welcomed back delegates who had attended our first virtual session in November 2025 for the second of GlosGeog/Met Office/Climate Ambassador‘s climate action planning workshop, led by Nichole (Nicki) Schantz, who is the Climate Ambassador SouthWest Hub Manager, and with a guest appearance from Edd Moore, aka eco edd (https://www.linkedin.com/in/edd-moore-a0369b86/). The Department for Education (DfE) now expects all educational …
One for teachers before the end of Term 2
Another GlosGeog event before the end of Term 2, but this time aimed at teachers. We were very lucky to be able to secure Dr Rebecca Kitchen, Head of Professional Development at the Geographical Association (GA), to update us about Ofsted’s EIF and the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR), contemplating what it means for geography. Becky had delivered an in …
GlosGeog collaboration with the Met. Office, University of Reading
Today, it was time for GlosGeog to join forces with Nichole (Nicki) Schantz, who is the Climate Ambassador SouthWest Hub Manager and based at the Met. Office at the University of Reading, to offer one of two FREE CPD workshops centred around climate action planning. There is an expectation from the Department for Education (DfE) that all educational settings should …
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 …
Time for geography southwest’s annual secondary conference!
Another year has passed. It was time to head off to the University of the West of England (UWE), just north of Bristol, for geography southwest’s annual secondary conference, organised so efficiently by Simon Ross and John Davidson in conjunction with Dr Harry West and colleagues in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management. This is one of the highlights …
Dr Rebecca Kitchen visits GlosGeog!
GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association (GA) branch, was fortunate to receive a visit from Dr Rebecca Kitchen, Head of Professional Development at the Geographical Association (GA), this afternoon. The event, aimed at secondary teachers, ECTs and trainees, was kindly hosted by Odyssey Teaching School Hub based at Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham. After formally welcoming and introducing everybody, I handed …
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 …
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 …