Leading Primary Geography

By the end of the session we hope participants:

• Gained insight about the role of a Primary Geography Subject Leader

• Understand core geography knowledge and skills within the context of the national curriculum

• Are able to identify factors that may influence how to plan a geography curriculum

• Have a starting point for developing approaches to assessment in geography

• Take away some practical ideas for teaching high-quality geography

• Find out how to locate existing good practice, resources and further support

**NB: we will be going outdoors, rain or shine, for around half an hour during our fieldwork session. Please come casually dressed and ready to spend time outdoors: comfy boots or trainers, lots of layers, hat/gloves and waterproofs. Please also bring i) your medium-term plan or curriculum overview and ii) any story books relating to geography that you have found useful.

To include:

Curriculum making

Higher order thinking OR using images (decided by vote)

Subject Leadership

Assessment

Here is some feedback from recent courses:

– Subject Leads Network Meeting (Learning Partnership) May 2023

“Brilliant as always! Thank you Nell ????”

“Many thanks Nell – loved the book and the ideas that came from it!”

“Thank you again Nell, the part on assessment was really useful as I’m looking at this for our action plan at the moment!”

“Will definitely be joining you again Nell, thank you.”

– Embedding Fieldwork (Geographical Association) May 2023

“A really insightful course that was also engaging. The simple mapping was a lightbulb moment, as I know, as a staff, we’ve found it hard to create simple maps meaningfully in our provision.”

“I really enjoyed the course. I liked how we got to go out and try things out straight away. I loved the range of activities.”

“Thank you for an inspiring course! I’ve got lots of ideas to take back to staff and help with delivering a staff meeting too.”

“Thank you Nell so such for a helpful and hands-on course. I loved exploring the fieldwork strategies and will implement all 4 we covered. I am excited about thinking how I can fit these into our existing curriculum. I found the enquiry questions really challenging but want to begin to develop this as a school.”

– Leading Primary Geography – Subject Leadership (Learning Partnership) May 2023

“I enjoy the sessions as they’re laid back and inclusive for all levels of subject leadership. I feel that I have a good grasp of the 3 main aims from the start and I’m looking forward to setting up a proper folder! I have a clearer idea of my roles and responsibilities and I will look at the areas I have to develop and see what I can start doing. Thank you.”

“I’m going away with extra knowledge about leading Geography. Following today I will make an effort to talk to colleagues about their Geographical links. I have enjoyed the session and have lots to share. Thank you.”

“As always, a supportive session. I always feel the breakout task is of benefit as it gives us chance to share ideas and hear the views of others. Looking forward to talking with staff and using some of the resources about auditing.”

– Creative approaches to teaching geography (London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham) March 2023

“I’m feeling enthusiastic about teaching geography now – I’ve been given new tools, ideas and resources.”

“Enjoyed the session today; really useful activity ideas and fieldwork. Critical Thinking info was fab. Thankyou x”

“I’m excited about developing our curriculum, introducing more fieldwork/map skills and critical thinking activities.”

“Lots of fabulous ideas: I’m definitely going to use/share a number of these back at school.”

“Feeling passionate and more confident to move froward with Geography. Great ideas and presentation from Nell: very engaging. Useful activities and resources to take away.”

– Leading Primary Geography – Geographical Skills (Learning Partnership) March 2023

“I’m going away more confident and enthusiastic to plan fieldwork, including map making. I will also be able to feed back at a staff meeting to other members of staff. Many thanks.”

“I’ve learnt a lot; I’m new to geography leading so I didn’t know what to expect. I like the ideas for activities and I’m looking forward to doing the fieldwork audit. I feel much more enthusiastic about fieldwork.”

“There was lots of information and practical activities to use with my own class and to share with colleagues. Some useful knowledge for an amateur Geography lead. Thank you.”

“Thank you for today. I’m looking forward to sharing ideas from today with the rest of the staff team. Great ideas for fieldwork and mapping resources.”

Nell Seal is a fresh air fanatic who loves to spend time outdoors. She has worked the last 18 years in environmental and outdoor learning, including managing an outdoor centre, as a consultant to the Geographical Association and as an advisory teacher for Norfolk County Council.

Armed with a BSc, a masters in Ecology and a PGCE in Secondary Geography, she’s is not scared of a good geek out with a quadrat! Nell is now a freelance consultant specialising in facilitating CPD training in the areas of learning for sustainability, outdoor learning and primary Geography. Nell has been a PGQM moderator for 4 years.