Building Outstanding Geography Departments

1. STANDING OUT Building OutstandingGeography Departments A View From King Edward VI Five Ways School

2. Things to think about #1….Having a VISION What exactly are you doing and why? What philosophy or rationale informs everything you do? What is the point of you and your Geography department? What kind of geographer do you want your pupils to be?

3. Things to think about #2….The Importance of Geography • What is Geography? • Why does it matter? • The distinctiveness of Geography • Do we need to be geographers and teachers? Outstanding geography brings the real world, with all its excitement, complexity and challenges, into the classroom. It also takes students and teachers out of the classroom! www.geography.org/uk

4. The Importance of Geography Geography stimulates an interest in and a sense of wonder about places and…. • helps young people make sense of a complex and dynamically changing world • explains where places are, how places and landscapes are formed, how people and their environment interact, and how a diverse range of economies, societies and environments are interconnected …. • builds on pupils’ own experiences to investigate all scales, from the personal to the global. • encourages questioning, investigation and critical thinking about issues affecting the world and people’s lives, now and in the future…. • inspires pupils to become global citizens by exploring their own place in the world, their values and their responsibilities to other people, to the environment and to the sustainability of the planet.

6. Things to think about #3….Your PUPILS and your PLACE • The distinctiveness of Geography (again) • The need to be pupil-centred • Distinct social, economic, environmental and political settings • Available resources • Plan for and recognise outstanding performance in geography

7. Your geography Your pupil

8. Things to think about #4….OfSTED and SMT - ‘From good to outstanding’ • All students make satisfactory progress; most make good progress. • Most know what they are doing and why. • Students behave well - little time is lost to behavioural issues. • The classroom is a friendly and safe place - relationships are good. • The teacher knows his/her subject and strategies for teaching it well; the teaching methods used are appropriate for the content. • The teaching is well-matched to the learners' needs; most are stretched by the teaching. • The teacher encourages and praises frequently. • Available resources (time, staff etc) are well used. • Assessment is regular and supports progress - most pupils know what they need to do to improve. http://archive.leadermagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=623

9. Things to think about #4….OfSTED and SMT - ‘From good to outstanding’ • All students are challenged and make good progress, especially those at the ends of the ability range and those who lack confidence; some make exceptional progress; • Enthusiasm and enjoyment pervade the classroom. • The teaching is exciting and interesting (for example, through use of stimulating resources or other adults in the lesson), it may be inspired. All the students are involved in the lesson and all contribute. • Teaching methods are very well matched to the content and to the learners - some may be original or innovative • The teacher checks progress throughout the lesson; assessment is regular and helpful. • Students evaluate their own and others' progress accurately and constructively. • All students know how to improve as a result of regular and constructive feedback; where appropriate this is linked to national criteria or examination requirements. • The teacher develops students' basic and other cross-curricular skills • Students have easy access to, and make use of, additional resources • The classroom is a lively and interesting place http://archive.leadermagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=623

10. Things to think about #5….The Geography What are you teaching and why? • Get it right • Make it current • Update it How are you teaching it? • Challenge • Pupil or teacher centred? • Critical

11. Which country has the highest fertility rate – Israel, Saudi Arabia or Bangladesh? Which country spends the highest proportion of its income on education – Lesotho, Botswana or Denmark?

12. Which country has the highest child mortality rate? Sri Lanka or Turkey Poland or South Korea Malaysia or Russia Pakistan or Vietnam Thailand or South Africa

13. Which country has the highest fertility rate – Israel, Saudi Arabia or Bangladesh? Answer: Saudi Arabia – it has a rate of 3, Israel’s is 2.6 and Bangladesh’s is 2.6 Which country spends the highest proportion of its income on education – Lesotho, Botswana or Denmark? Answer: Lesotho spent 13%, Botswana 8.7%, and Denmark 8.3%

14. Q5: Which country has the highest child mortality rate? Answers: Sri Lanka or Turkey Poland or South Korea Malaysia or Russia Pakistan or Vietnam Thailand or South Africa

16. The Wretched Dollar (up to $1 a day) Territory size shows the proportion of all people living on less than or equal to US$1 in purchasing power parity a day.

17. Development Increase Territory size shows the proportion of worldwide human development that occurred there between 1975 and 2002 (calculated by multiplying human development index by population). http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=175

18. Development Decrease Afghanistan the DRC, Iraq Somalia, Timor-Leste, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Territory size shows the proportion of worldwide human un-development that occurred there between 1975 and 2002 (calculated as the fall in Human Development Index multiplied by population). The HDI scores of 7 territories fell between 1975 and 2002 http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=176

20. Are we still talking about Kobe?

21. Outstanding resources • Current • Web-based • Varied, visual, audio and kinaesthetic • ICT, graphs, data • Inside and outside classroom • Literature, film, imagery, newspapers • Visitors • Food and props

22. Things to think about #6….The Geography Curriculum KS3 – is up to you! KS4 – choose an exam board, best-fit! KS5 – choose an exam board, best-fit! Uptake (results!) at KS4 and KS5 depends on pupil experience of KS3

23. An ‘outstanding’ curriculumorA curriculum that inspires outstanding learning, ensures progress and has the WOW factor • Bespoke • Pupil-centred • Resourced, shared, ensures pupil parity • Matches KS3 guidance/exam specification • Plays to strengths • Innovative technologies • GIS • Fieldwork • Enquiry • Use fieldwork and enquiry Write a curriculum that suits YOU and your PUPILS

24. The Geography Curriculum At KS3, the Key Concepts are.. • Place • Space • Scale • Interdependence • Physical and Human Processes • Environmental Interaction and • Sustainable Development • Cultural Understanding and Diversity CURRICULUM DESIGN WHAT are we trying to achieve? HOW do we organise learning? HOW well are we achieving our aims?

25. DYNAMIC POPULATION AND THE PLANET Key concepts: Place, space, physical and human processes, interdependence cultural understanding and diversity 1 3 Planning With Concepts A scheme of work on one page 2

26. Support • Join the Geographical Association • Join the RGS (continue to!) • Be a CGeog • Go to the GA conference • Use the APG opportunities (continue to!) • Enable others by supporting CPD • Write and update a departmental handbook

27. SO….. You have a shared vision and a clear understanding of the meaning and power geography. You understand your pupils and their geographical context. You have designed an innovative, bespoke curriculum that enables pupils to make great progress and involves GIS and fieldwork and visitors. Your lessons are hugely interesting – WOW - and your resources are current and accurate OUTSTANDING!

28. SO WHAT? The big question is… How do you know? How do your SMT know? How does OfSTED know? How do your pupils (and parents) know? PRACTICALITIES ASSESSMENT, MONITORING, RECORD-KEEPING, EVIDENCE, MEETINGS CPD, SYSTEMS…. IDEAS TO CONSIDER