Living Geography MK meeting
Wednesday 14th March 07
At Ousedale School, Newport Pagnell
Attendees:
Vicki HullOusedale School, Newport Pagnell
Sam WillowsOusedale School, Newport Pagnell
Anne CowmeadowSecondary Consultant EAL and Literacy MK Council
Liz UnderwoodLeon School, MK
Margaret MarkhamLeon School, MK
Mike Nicholson Alban C of E Middle School, Great Barford
Chris WatsonWalton High School, MK
Apologies:
Ruth Field, Jackie Paradiso, Nichola Brooks, Jane Bidgood
1. Vicki Hull welcomed everyone and introduced the meeting.
The focus was the new KS3 Programme of Study (PoS) to be implemented in September 2008.
2. We discussed questions posed by David Gardner, the Curriculum Advisor for Geography at QCA. Outline of discussion:
What impact will the revised PoS have on our curriculum planning?
It will provide a focus for our curriculum planning over the next year. The emphasis on enquiry is a positive step and viewed as a ‘way in’ to the subject content.
Redrafting of schemes of work will mean additional workload and teachers will need time to do this. It provides an opportunity to take a different approach to KS3 if that is needed in a school.
Does the revised PoS give us the opportunity to be more flexible in our teaching and provide greater potential to customise the curriculum to meet the needs of our students? If so, how?
The curriculum can be related to local area. Although this is probably done already it provides scope for new resources. It can be seen as a boost to what we are doing already in school.
What opportunities does it offer us to do things differently?
It highlights fieldwork as a key skill and so this gives more weight to the department for being able to get funding and time to take KS3 students out of school. It was also suggested that it is an opportunity to be inventive with fieldwork in school and the local area in order to make sure that fieldwork does not exclude students due to finance.
It forces the issue of GIS to be included in our teaching and learning.
Are there any aspects of the PoS that would be challenging to deliver? Are these different from the challenges now?
Including GIS will be a challenge due to availability of ICT resources (hardware and software) and teachers will need time to use and be trained on the software.
Fieldwork will be a challenge, as mentioned previously.
Changing perceptions of teachers may also be a challenge within departments.
What additional support, guidance or exemplification would help us make the most of the revisions?
Support for implementing GIS: time, training and software.
Access to appropriate maps.
Support networks such as this Living Geography group for the local area.
Training on the philosophy for the change on the PoS- from David Gardner?
CPD from the GA.
What features would a web-based version have to support teachers?
Guidance and resources. A place for sharing teaching and learning ideas. Different approaches to structure of SoW.
Are there areas of the PoS that we think will be given greater emphasis in our teaching as a result of the revision?
Enquiry – although it is central to Geography at present it is a chance to change the approach to teaching and learning.
3. Future for Living Geography MK Group
Mike Nicholson suggested that we could have a list of good fieldwork opportunities/activities/visits in the local area. These could be reviewed by teachers.
Opportunities for sharing ideas/resources on the GA website.
Focus for meetings: Interactive Whiteboards and opportunities for training. GIS and Infomapper training.
Sharing SoW and planned outlines for new PoS in 2008 especially those relevant to MK.
4. AOB
Liz Underwood suggested that we move the meetings between schools. It was agreed that the next meeting would be held at Leon School on 19th June 07.