Primary Geography Resources

Contact Details

Simon Lockwood

County Hall, Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. HP20 1UZ

Tel: 01296 382030 e-mail: slockwood@buckscc.gov.uk

Laura Whelan - Business Support Officer

County Hall, Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. HP20 1UZ

Tel: 01296 382779 email: lwhelan@buckscc.gov.uk

Local Network Meetings

Funding has been made available by the Geographical Association to support local network meetings for primary geography during 2009 - 2011. 

This is an excellent opportunity for geography co-ordinators to meet on a regular basis and we hope that you will join one of our networks, as teachers found the termly twilight meetings and full-day Autumn term conference very useful in 2009.

Please complete a quick online survey to help us identify the topics you would find most useful.  Click on the link below:

www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=TVv6KvL8RlztGXBsZUH3Dw_3d_3d

WHAT ARE THE MAIN AIMS OF THE NETWORK MEETINGS?

Termly twilight network meetings will be free to teachers due to funding from the Action Plan for Geography (APG).  The main aims of the meetings are to:

• Support the development of practical and exciting ideas for primary geography
• Collaborate and share best practice and resources
• Explore ways of making primary geography relevant and enjoyable

WHO ARE THE GEOGRAPHY CHAMPIONS?

Two 'Geography Champions' have been nominated by the GA to organise the termly network meetings, plus an online networking site.

• Christine Lloyd- Staples (Humanities consultant, Teaching and Learning Centre, Aylesbury)
• Erica Bailey (Geography co-ordinator, Great Kingshill School, High Wycombe)

2010 MEETINGS

The Spring term meetings will focus upon resources and strategies for teaching about Weather and Climate (particularly at KS2), including a focus on the recent 'Big Freeze'

Thursday 18th March - Great Kingshill School  4.00 - 5.30pm, with Erica Bailey

Tuesday 23rd March - Teaching and Learning Centre  4.00 - 5.30pm, with Christine Lloyd-Staples

The content of both meetings will be the same, but you have a choice whether to attend a meeting in North or South Bucks.  To register at one of these meetings, please send an email in advance to:

• Christine Lloyd- Staples clloydstaples@bucksgfl.org.uk for the Aylesbury meeting
• Erica Bailey ebailey@bucksgfl.org.uk for the High Wycombe meeting

The Summer term meetings will focus upon local river fieldwork and the use of journey sticks (useful for KS1 and KS2).  These meetings will take place 'in the field' at a location to be decided:

Wednesday 9th June - A stream location in the south of Bucks (with Erica)

Thursday 10th June - A stream location in mid or north Bucks (with Christine)

In addition to the local face-to-face network meetings, there is also and online site set up by the GA to enable virtual networking between primary geography teachers from all over the country.  This is called a "ning" (short for networking). For further details about the "ning", please see the attachment below.

There will be a full day primary geography conference with a focus upon Sustainabilty in October 2010  (date to be arranged)

Primary Humanities Newsletters

If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive the geography newsletter and updates, please send your details to Christine Lloyd-Staples calstaples@buckscc.gov.uk and Sophie Chan schan@buckscc.gov.uk

Copies of previous newsletter can be downloaded from the folder below.

National Geography Action Plans

The DFES is investing a large amount of money into developing the teaching of Geography. The Geography Association is providing high quality training and resources as part of this Action Plan. Attached is a letter giving information.

Past Events

Primary Geography Conference- 3rd October 2008

The Primary Geography Conference took place on 3rd October 2008 at the  River and Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames.

Their expertise on river fieldwork and being located on the Thames meant that the morning session was used to work on ideas to develop fieldwork in primary schools using a river, whilst the afternooon was focused on developing the ideas of sustainability in schools.

Useful Websites

Useful Resources

Managing Geography

Being the subject co-ordinator for geography is a demanding job. How well does the subject work alongside the core subjects? How effectively does the subject help children’s learning and creativity to develop?

In this section you will find some management resources that may help you in running your subject in school.

We could add a discussion tool to invite people to share their own management resources?

Understanding Geography in the curriculum

The National Curriculum is going to be reviewed over the next few years. While at its core, it lists the key knowledge, understanding and skills required in Geography at each Key Stage, the content has been loosened over the years. Schools are now beginning to use topics and schemes of work more creatively, with a promising return for some to topic-based learning built on a framework of conceptual development in children’s learning backed by the modern rigour of focussing on the development of good skills and assessment for learning. In this section you will find resources to help with these changes.

Learning and assessment in Geography

Assessment of learning and assessment for learning are key strategies for understanding how well pupils are progressing. In this section you will find resources that will help you develop these strategies in school. Any useful assessment techniques and examples from schools will be gratefully received.

Interesting events in schools

Increasingly, schools are finding ways of promoting creative work in geography  that are exciting, such as holding a geography week with a theme to all the lessons in each class or year. In this section, we shall report on such events in schools and will welcome you contributions, photographs, plans and evaluations of these events for others to share.

Geography Transition Units

KS2-3

Christine Lloyd-Staples, working with the Give Geography its Place campaign to raise the profile of the subject, has written these resources with Year 6 transition in mind.  The unit of six fully resourced lessons is designed to act as a bridge between KS2 - KS3 by helping to give children from different schools a common area of knowledge and understanding that can be referred to and built upon.   The unit reflects key concepts that will underpin KS3 geography in the new secondary curriculum from September 2008, and is designed to engage children with a topic that is relevant to them all, make links between their world and the wider world, and provide a context for studying Fairtrade issues.   

Relevant permissions have been given by The Co-operative, Comic Relief, Papapaa, Dubble Chocolate, Oxfam, Trading Visions and the Science Museum of Minnestota for the use of resources and acknowledgements made.

The unit resources can be downloaded here: