New OFSTED guidance

New guidance from OFSTED has been released on the OFSTED website.

The guidance is available for a range of subjects, including GEOGRAPHY.

It is intended for those who inspect subjects, and includes some thoughts on generic grade descriptors as well as some draft supplementary guidance on areas such as the curriculum and the effectiveness of subject leadership.

The guidance is for consultation. You have until the end of July to provide your feedback...

As my concern (well, one of many things my job concerns) is with Curriculum Development, I was particularly interested in the statements relating to the assessment of the curriculum in geography.

The imaginative and stimulating geography curriculum is skilfully designed to match to the full range of pupils’ needs and to ensure highly effective continuity and progression in their learning

I also liked the comment on teaching:

Teachers communicate enthusiasm and passion about geography to pupils.

Good to see the importance of GIS, fieldwork and knowledge of current initiatives mentioned...

Well worth reading and adding your thoughts on...

A nice day at NAACE

It was over to Nottingham today for a meeting of representatives from many of the Subject Associations at the new headquarters of NAACE.

For those who don't know, NAACE is the ICT Association, and is the professional association for those concerned with advancing education through the appropriate use of ICT. It also has a key role in the ICT Mark for schools.

Quite a few familiar faces from work that I did last year to produce a booklet for the teaching of Functional Skills - you can download if from HERE by the way - it's great !

NAACE have also produced a range of FREE CPD courses which although they might sound like they are just for ICT teachers, would probably be of value to geography teachers too. They can be found by following this link: ICT CPD 4 FREE

Met Peter Twining from VITAL, who offer a range of CPD options too. Their website describes Vital as:

a professional development programme that aims to revitalise the teaching of IT and the use of ICT across the broader curriculum. It is aimed at anyone teaching or working in state-funded education in England.

Courses are delivered by the Open University, and funded by the DfE.

The day involved a series of discussions on the use of ICT to support / deliver CPD, the use that subject specialists were making of ICT to support their pedagogy, and how the impact of its use was being evaluated. I contributed some thoughts, and talked about the various projects that the GA has been involved in in this area, including the one on GEOGRAPHY AND CAREERS that has just gone live.

Coincidentally, I got back home to find details (via Twitter) of a very useful GUARDIAN article, which talked about the sad demise of BECTa, and celebrated the impact that it was having in supporting teachers. The article featured the results of a survey of teachers, and also a quote from Bernadette Brooks of NAACE:

"Technology has moved on dramatically so training has to match that pace of change. I don't see that there will be a reduction in that. ICT training isn't done. We will keep needing to invest in training for ICT teaching and learning. It is not just about using the kit but about finding innovative ways to use the technology available to us in the classroom."

The trend was towards more informal forms of training, mixing face-to-face and online. "Teachers increasingly feel more comfortable with 'bite-sized' training. They don't necessarily want something incredibly formal."

New Geography and Careers resource

A new section of the GA website went live this morning.

It's designed to support teachers who want to stress the vocational value of the subject by teaching a 'normal' geography lesson with a careers twist...

There are various types of resource in the series of sessions that have been planned for you, and then annotated by a careers "expert"... I'm certainly not one of those it seems ;)

However, I did produce the geography elements, and I hope you like the range of activities, and creative opportunities for student work.

There's a particular focus on the PEAK DISTRICT.

Image by Alan Parkinson: near Strines, Peak District

Please get in touch and let me know what you produce as a result of using it

Teachers TV

The three programmes that I recently consulted on for Teachers TV were added to the website on Friday...
There are 3 programmes in the series.

Each was developed by Beth Newell and colleagues at Brook Lapping from original ideas which we discussed in an Italian cafe in Cambridge last year...

Each programmes last for 15 minutes

The first one: Today's Forecast, follows a line across the country from east to west and interviews a number of people whose jobs are dependent on the weather...

The second: The Great Storm tells the story of the 1987 Great Storm, but from the perspective of the storm itself...

The third: Degrees of Change is based on a specially commissioned poem by Mark Cowan and explores the possible impacts of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 degrees of warming in the future...

I'd love any feedback if you watch them, and particularly if you use them in the classroom....

Teachers TV

There are a number of Teachers TV programmes on the way that I had a hand in producing as a consultant on the content, and also helping to find teachers to provide appropriate lesson experiences that could be filmed.

The first of these is coming up in a couple of weeks time...

Hard to Teach: Secondary Geography Using ICT (J/4125/001)

Available to stream and download on the website www.teachers.tv as of 4^th June

First transmission on the channel on 8^th June at 08:25 followed by a further transmission that day at 16:25

Further transmissions have also been scheduled as follows:

9^th June – 20:00

12^th June – 19:00

13^th June – 16:00

The programme features 3 teachers using ICT in the classroom.

Helen Young uses data-loggers to explore microclimates

Paul Haigh looks at virtual fieldwork in Sheffield

Bob Lang uses Google Earth, Gapminder and Digital Worlds

Controlled Assessment

A new area for GA members is being launched in the next few days

It provides guidance on CONTROLLED ASSESSMENT.

This will be particularly helpful for those who are going through the process for the first time....

Update:

Area is now "live" on the GA website.

Sections include:

Background

Research

Analysis

Use of Secondary data

Marking

Planning

Weblinks

Primary Geography Handbook offer...

Image: Alan Parkinson

There is a special offer available for a limited time for new (and existing) subscribers of the Primary Geographer journal....

Join the Geographical Association now, subscribing to Primary Geographer, and we’ll send you a free Primary Geography Handbook CD, containing printable PDFs of the entire Primary Geography Handbook. Join online or phone 0114 296 0088. Hurry, this offer is only available until the end of June 2010 or while stocks last.

Already subscribe to PG?
If you already subscribe to Primary Geographer you can request your free copy of the Primary Geography Handbook CD (while stocks last) by emailing fsoar@geography.org.uk stating your membership number and putting FREE CD in the subject line.

Revised Primary Geography Handbook
An updated version of the Primary Geography Handbook will be available in Autumn 2010, priced £29.99 (GA members) £39.99 (non-members). It will continue to exemplify good geographical teaching practice and serve as a source of inspiration for years to come, no matter what changes occur in the primary curriculum.