Rediscovering School Geography....

Wow - months go by very quickly when you're not looking!

Today I was very lucky to be invited to the Open Universities Rediscovering School Geographies Workshop. The iea of the day was to get academic geographers, geography educators and school teachers in order to debate the state of school geography in the UK.

There were excellent presentations by John Morgan and David Lambert. The key message, which ran through the whole day, is that we rarely pause to consider WHAT we teach. Sure, I am always involved in conversations focussed on HOW to teach but when was the last ti you asked your department to justify the inclusion of something new?

Reflecting on my own experiences, the 'what' question was never considered during Teacher Training. Judgments about my reaching are made by non-specialists who worry about the structure and pace of my lessons but rarely the accuracy, relevance or interest of the content. I wonder if this era of accountability has almost destroyed curriculum development and risk taking - can we afford to gt it wrong? I think we can and should be taking risks - otherwise how do we progress?

Two panels then followed a nice lunch of fish where I was lucky to finally meet Noel Jenkins, Tony Cassidy and Adam Lawson. We all presented a short piece on developments. My notes are available here on what I said. I have to point out that the last 5 months have radically altered my outlook on geography education. I now have the point of view from the 'lost' departments after taking over one in January.

The second panel was made up from OU academic geographers. I have to say that there is a wealth of research out there that could easily be used within classrooms!

Off to the palace.

Nice random picture - the view out of my window at home! Ahhh. Never one to do things by halves, as well as turning 30 this weekend (on St David's day you know) and having an Ofsted subject inspection on Monday and Tuesday, I found myself in St James' Palace on Wednesday. I was acting as a Marshall for a Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award presentation. It was great to see some of the young people I have helped through the Award pick up their certificates from the Prince.

Over 6000 young people achieve Gold each year and the only thing that stops the Award expanding is a lack of adult volunteers! So why not give it a go!

Right, I'm off to have some wine and clear my diary.

The Ofsted menace!

Well, Ofsted is over! First of all I'd like to thank all of those that offered help and advice! I am very pleased with the results.

The key to the process was a very honest self evaluation and an action plan linked to the SEF, school and other action plans. Coupled with some mega impact since January meant that the Leadership category was rated as good. To be so honest was a little soul destroying, but eventually meant that there were no surprises! It has also resulted in the possibility that the department would be 'put up' for further scrutiny during a full inspection visit. Nice.

Having gone through this process I welcome Ofsted as I feel that as teachers we should be accountable. What went on in the department I have taken over was shocking. But we'll end it there as tomorrow dawns a brand new day!

Glen Coe 2008

It's time to catch up on the blog!

This shot was taken at the end of a very long day traversing some of the Mammores range near Fort William. The range has a lovely ridge that stretches for miles. The great thing was the fact the we saw no one all day! This is us looking over a lovely loch. I really enjoy our trips into Scotland and this time I was allowed to turn my back on the looming Ofsted menace! What better way that 3 great hill days, a day on the mountain bike and a day inside the Ice Factor (it decided the rain that day!)

I've also been keeping an eye on the SAIS blog for the area. I have been using the images and news to show classes just how quickly the weather can change in our upland areas!

The call....

Well, as I'm sat here in Lancaster services waiting for my climbing partner it seems that blogger won't allow me to upload images today. They were going to be great too!

Anyhow, with Ofsted a half term away I've been reflecting on the events since the 13th Feb. I'll write about the KS3 Geography Conference at a later date! That is if the Ofsted fairies don't melt my mind first! I'm sharing my feelings here as I think that others will be able to learn from my experience of the inspection.

The first lovely picture shows me grappling with a multitude of ropes during crevasse rescue training in the Alps. The first feeling after the news that Ofsted would be carrying out a 2 day subject inspection of my department led me to panic about how to pull all of the threads together. Things have been moving slowly, but as a new head of department (6 weeks into the job) I wondered how I was going to get all of the threads together. However, the point of training is that things become easier. Ofsted has actually made me really focus on the job in hand, and has forced me to act a little quicker.

Firstly it was clear that staff need support, reassurance and guidance. I think it was Bob Markey who said that everything's gonna be all right, and I am confident it will be!

So what have I done? The second great photo (great because it wasn’t taken by me of staring me) was going to show a team of people pulling together to rescue a lost soul who had fallen' into a crevasse. It became clear that I had to be honest about the position the department is in. I am very grateful for all of the advice offered through SLN colleagues. From this I have been able to focus.

I have written the aims for the Geography department (based upon ideas from the KS3 conference):
· To stimulate a sense of wonder about places.
· To help you to make sense of the complex and sometimes crazy world around you.
· To inspire and show you how you can change your world
· to help you to explore your geography.
· To give you the skills to make it in the future – whatever your choices are.

This is part of the 'rebranding' of geography at Priory. 'Geography is changing........'

Secondly I have cobbled together a development plan. Again I am grateful to virtual colleagues. Firstly this involved carrying out a SWOT analysis with my team. Although this had been done informally over the past 6 weeks, next time I'm going to ensure that I formalise all actions! This is where the experience of Ofsted has been valuable - it has made me create these documents that had only existed within the vast expanse of my confused head or in my notebook. This has allowed me to create a formal action plan linked to the school development plan and humanities faculty plans. I have tried to be bold. The next job is to prioritise the actions. There is so much to do the plan is heading for War and Peace status!

The next job? To sort out my lessons...

So far so good...........

Geography is changing....

A survey designed for KS 3 pupils.

Click Here to take survey

Scotland's one day closer!

Finalised the plans last night for the annual venture to Scotland. I hope to get a good trip in this year. This blog will be of interest to Geography teachers. It compliments to excellent Scottish Avalanche Information Service site and includes some excellent pictures and information for teaching about hazards and weather! Includes a picture of an avalache on Ben Nevis on the weekend.

There are a number of other blogs covering the main climbing areas!