From 8-10 April we welcomed delegates from all over the world to take part in the GA Annual Conference and Exhibition with a range of lectures, workshops to find out about the latest ideas, resources and support in primary and secondary geography.

Session downloads

Thursday 08 April

Public Lecture All KS
20 Years, 95 Miles, 185 Million Years: A Celebration of the Jurassic Coast
Dr Anjana Khatwa, Learning and Earth Science Specialist and TV presenter

 

Friday 09 April

9 – 10am

Lecture KS3 – P16
There’s no planet B: caring for nature and communities
Jeremy Williams. Delivered by the Geography Editorial Collective

Lecture All KS
From tigers to tetra bags: the empowerment of women in India
Devika Krishnan, Social Business Development. Delivered by GA ISIG

Lecture plus All KS
Bringing children’s geographies into the classroom
Dr Lauren Hammond, Lecturer in geography education, UCL Institute of Education and Professor John McKendrick, Glasgow Caledonian University

Panel: All KS
Generous geographers
Dr Susan Pike, Assistant Professor in Geography Education, Dublin City University and GA President. Panel: Jennifer Monk, Head of Geography, Golborne High School; Gemma Collins, Lecturer in Geography Education, University of Birmingham; Prof Simon Catling, Emeritus Prof of Geography Education, Oxford Brookes and Alan Parkinson, Head of Geography, King’s Ely Junior and GA Vice President

Lecture KS1 – 3
Deconstructing atlas maps
Dr Stephen Scoffham, Visiting reader in sustainability and education, Canterbury Christchurch University

Lecture plus KS4
Evaluating the educational benefits of immersive imagery at KS4
Amy Vigus, Geography teacher, Ormiston Meridian Academy and Dr Richard Waller, Senior Lecturer in physical geography, Keele University

Workshop KS2 – P16
Departmental leadership: building a department of compassionate teachers
Simran Jouhal, Head of Geography and Lead practitioner of Staff Development, The Archer Academy

Workshop P16
Updating pedagogy for Post 16 geography teaching
Laura-Jane Ward, Hafsa Garcia and Ellie Hopkins. Delivered by GA Post 16 and HE PC

Workshop: All KS
The Geography Quality Marks: building curriculum impact
Jon Cannell, Primary Curriculum Leader and Dr Becky Kitchen, CPD, Curriculum and Marketing manager, Geographical Association

Research papers

Tackling the Whiteness of Geography
Charlotte Milner, NQT at Westminster City School

Exploring aspirations: What do students and teachers report as being the strongest influences on student aspirations for higher education?
Sana Ali, geography teacher

 

10.30 – 11.30am

Presidential lecture
Compassionate geographies
Dr Susan Pike, Assistant Professor in Geography Education, Dublin City University and GA President.

Workshop KS2
Hidden stories: exploring migration and community in your class
Debbie Watson, Global Education Officer, Cumbria Development Education Centre

Workshop KS3 – P16
Progression and assessment in key themes in geography
Follow-up handout
Extra urban resources (Google Drive)
Extra coasts resources (Google Drive)
Elizabeth Rynne, Chair of AESIG, David Gardner, Sue Warn, Mike Simmons and David Preece, Delivered by AESIG

Lecture Plus P16
Top spec geography: key themes for A level geography
Bob Digby, Consultant to the GA. Delivered by GA Publications Board

Teacher to teacher

Using MS OneNote to enhance geography teaching remotely and in the classroom 
Joanne Clarke, Head of Geography, Queen Anne’s School

Supporting geography understanding with ICT and GIS
Heidi Quenby, Teacher of geography, The Maplesden Noakes School, Maidstone

 

12 – 1pm

Lecture KS1 – P16
How to look inside a volcano
Prof Christopher Jackson, Equinor Professor of Basin Analysis, Imperial College

Lecture KS3 – P16
Scholarship and indigenous voices: geographies of sustainable development
Grace Healy, Curriculum Director, David Ross Education Trust and Dr Jess Hope, Lecturer in sustainable development, University of St Andrew’s

Lecture KS3 – P16
Building a compassionate geographical community
Denise Freeman, Teacher of geography, Oaks Park High School and Tom Highnett, Geography teacher, Outwood Grange Academy, Wakefield

Workshop EY – KS2
Windows on the curriculum
Paula Owens, independent consultant and author and Anthony Barlow, Roehampton University. Delivered by GA EYPPC

Workshop P16
Getting the NEA right
David Rogers, Director of standards and geography teacher, The Littlehampton Academy

Lecture KS3 – P16
Key concepts in the geography curriculum: mapping key stage progression in the understanding, use and assessment of geography’s big ideas
Simon Oakes. Sponsored by Eduqas

Panel KS1 – P16
What does it mean to ‘decolonise the curriculum’?
Dr Alex Standish, Associate Professor of Geography Education (Chair), Hafsa Garcia, Geography Teacher, Portsmouth Grammar School, Malica Scott, Geography Teacher, Royal Russell School and Steven Puttick, Associate Professor of Teacher Education, University of Oxford

Workshop KS3 – 4
Developing and delivering a knowledge-rich geography curriculum
Extra resources
Ryan Bate, Head of Geography, Birchwood Community High School. Delivered by GA SPC

Research paper

To what extent are spaced practice methods valuable in GCSE geography teaching and learning?
Rachel Denison, Head of Geography, Wilson’s School

Retrieval practice: How can students use it metacognitively to monitor and improve their learning in geography?
Jennifer Frances Ellen Campbell, MA student, University of Birmingham

 

2 – 3pm

Lecture P16
Racialised in/securities in geography education
Dr Patricia Noxolo, Senior lecturer in Human Geography, University of Birmingham

Workshop KS3 – P16
Ethical global issues pedagogy for reflexive compassion: a resource
Breakout room 1 resource
Breakout room 2 resource
Breakout room 3 resource
Dr Karen Pashby, Reader, Manchester Metropolitan University, Karolina Sandahl, Head teacher, The global high school, Stockholm and Jennifer MacGuire, Geography teacher, Harris Academy South Norwood

Lecture KS3 – P16
Overcoming the ‘Lisnagunogue effect’: using GIS to turn space into plac
Alistair Hamill, Head of geography, Lurgan College, Northern Ireland

Workshop EY – KS2
Field visiting attentively with the wisdom of Pooh Bear
Dr Sharon Witt, Co-director of Attention2place and Dr Helen Clarke, Co-director of Attention2place

Field visit KS2 – P16
The start of something wonderful…
Part 1
Part 2
Part 4
Ryan Nock, Head of Geography, Carr Manor Community School, Caitlin Finlay, Teacher of geography and Charlotte Foster, Senior Tutor, Field Studies Council. Delivered by GA FOLSIG

Workshop KS1 – KS2
Using teaching atlases
Ben Ballin and Dr Paula Owens, consultants to the GA. Sponsored by TTS

Workshop KS3 – 4
Getting our geography geek on
Rachel Hawke, Curriculum leader for geography, Court Moor School

Lecture All KS
Climate change as a safeguarding issue
Mitigation and adaptation activity
Kit Rackley, Consultant to the GA and freelance educator, Geogramblings

Teacher to teacher

Igniting compassion – teaching for social and environmental change
Laura Bytheway, NQT, Ormiston SWB Academy

Developing empathy skills through geography
Tessa Sittner, Visiting lecturer in Geography secondary teacher education, Middlesex University

 

3.30 – 4.30pm

Lecture P16
Sub-Saharan Africa – circular economy solutions to drive a healthy economy and environment
Professor Margaret Bates, Visiting Professor in circular economy and wastes management, University of Northampton. Delivered by GA HEP16PC

Lecture KS3 – P16
‘The shops were only made for people who could walk’
James Bonehill, Consultant, North Star Consultancy

Workshop KS1 – 2
Resources for supporting quality primary geography ITE
Chris Barlow, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Cumbria. Delivered by GA TEPC

Lecture KS2 – P16
The importance of compassion for people and places in geography fieldwork
Handout
Chloe Searl, Independent field tutor

Lecture KS3 – KS5
Compassionate Geographies around the world – The strive for a carbon neutral society
Karen Corfield. Delivered by Discover the World Education

Lecture plus P16
Compassionate feedback: fostering academic progress through care
Dr Cyrus Nayeri, Visiting Tutor, Geography PGCE Course, King’s College London, Second in Geography, Latymer Upper School and Dr Elizabeth Rushton, Lecturer in Geography Education, King’s College London

Workshop KS3 – P16
The plate tectonic story
Duncan Hawley, Physical Geography SIG

Research papers

The use of accountable talk to develop subject specific vocabulary in the geography classroom
Amy Cushing, Head of Geography, Brinsworth Academy

Multimodality: the means to communicate compassionate geographies
Dr Alison Brown, Academic Associate, University of East Anglia

 

5 – 6pm

Lecture KS3 – P16
The social organisation of climate breakdown: colonialism, imperialism and justice
Leon Sealey-Huggins, Assistant Professor, University of Warwick

Workshop KS3 – P16
Ingenious India: emerging cities, changing places
Harvesting water
Learning from India
Restoring environments
Imogen Sahi, Stepwell Education Organisation, Kiran Sahi, Stepwell Education Organisation and Susan Knight. Delivered by GA ISIG

Lecture plus KS3 – P16
Why you should use what you have first – before looking further afield!
Richard Allaway, geographer at geographyalltheway.com and Matthew Podbury, geographer at ibgeographypods.org

Workshop EY – KS2
How can primary geography accelerate positive change for the Black Lives Matter agenda?
Patricia Kavanagh, ASN, Baltasound Junior High School, Unst, Shetland

Workshop KS3 – P16
Fieldwork in the new normal
Andy Owen, consultant to the GA. Sponsored by OCR

Lecture KS4 – P16
Transport futures: e-mobility and the decarbonisation of travel
Dr Richard Waller, Senior lecturer in physical geography, Keele University

Workshop KS3 – P16
Bringing cultural capital into the geography classroom
Laura-Jayne Ward, Member of Post 16 and HE Phase Committee

Lecture KS2 – P16
Core concerns – apples and the geography of justice
Simon Kenton-Lake, Policy and project officer, Nourish Scotland and Jon-Paul Davies, Head of Geography, D’Overbroeck’s. Delivered by GA SCSIG

Teacher to teacher

Getting the best out of Twitter as a CPD tool
Simran Jouhal, Head of Geography and Lead practitioner of staff development, The Archer Academy

 

Saturday 10 April

9 – 10am

Workshop KS3 – P16
Critical thinking about the physical world for compassionate geography
Duncan Hawley and Karen Dunn. Delivered by GA PGSIG

Workshop KS3 – P16
Introducing Teach with GIS UK Hub
David Morgan, education team, ESRI UK. Sponsored by ESRI

Workshop EY – KS2
Using the Primary Geography journal to inspire your teaching
Jane Whittle, Head of Primary, International School of Como, and Adam Rose, environmental facilitator and PG author. Delivered by PG Editorial Board

Workshop P16
Carbon and climate change: investigating national peatlands with global implications
Part 1 Introduction
Part 2 Snowdonia peat project
Part 3 Measuring carbon content
Part 4 Analysing data
Dan Romberg, Education Team Leader, Field Studies Council and Rachel Harvey, Welsh Peatlands Project Officer,  Snowdonia National Park Authority

Lecture plus KS3 – 4
How can concepts such as ‘identity’ and ‘Britishness’ be taught through geography using curriculum artefacts?
Orlaith Roche, Head of Department, Gunnersbury Catholic School

Lecture plus P16
Supporting students through the transition from GCSE to A level
Andrew Barker, Curriculum Manager for Earth Sciences, City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College, Richard Head, Teacher of geography, City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College and Dr Richard Waller, Senior lecturer in physical geography, Keele University

Workshop P16
Effective mentoring: an exploration into the Early Career Framework
Handout 1
Handout 2
Handout 3
Handout 4
Handout 5
Handout 6
Handout 7
Handout 8
Michael Simmons, Deputy Director, National Forest Teaching School and Katie Simmons, Teacher of Geography, Walsall Academy

Lecture All KS
The geography of geography: Who is (and isn’t) studying geography?
Steve Brace, Head of Education and Outdoor Learning, Royal Geographical Society with IBG

Teacher to teacher

Cool Places and Prisoners of Space?  Reading scholarship with KS5 students
Sarah Trolley, Teacher of Geography, Hills Road Sixth Form College

Geography reading in the classroom
Simran Jouhal, Head of Geography and Lead practitioner of Staff Development, The Archer Academy

 

10.30 – 11.30am

Keynote lecture
Mapping the moral geographies of education: character, citizenship and values
Dr Sarah Mills, Reader in Human Geography, Loughborough University

Lecture plus KS3 – 4
Soccernomics: a study of social inequalities and economic change
Scheme of learning
Player to Politician Poverty to Prospertity
John Wilkinson, Head of Geography, St Edwards College

Workshop EY – KS3
Finding the heart of the forest
Amy Moore, Education Officer, New Forest National Park and Helen Robinson, Education Officer, New Forest National Park

Workshop KS3 – 4
Effectively integrating real life examples in geography
Lois Martin, Practitioner of Geography and KS4 Curriculum Co-ordinator, King’s Leadership Academy Warrington

Research papers

Let’s talk: The importance of collaboration, communication and networking in education
Dr Emma Rawlings Smith, Lecturer in Education, University of Leicester

Organising concepts in geography education: a didactic conceptual model
Lotta Dessen Jankell, Stockholm University, Dr Johan Sandahl, Senior Lecturer, Stockholm University and David Örbring, Lund University

 

12 – 1pm

Lecture All KS
Flooding in England – past, present and future
John Curtin, Executive Director of Local Operations, Environment Agency

Lecture All KS
De/colonising educational relations in geography classrooms
Handout 1
Handout 2
Dr Fran Martin, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Exeter and Professor Fatima Pribhai-Illich, Professor of Education, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Lecture plus KS3 – 4
Privilege: How geography can help us understand the need for compassion
Kit Rackley, Consultant to the GA and freelance educator, Geogramblings

Workshop KS1 – 2
Compassionate everyday geographies
Julia Tanner, Education consultant and trainer and Jane Whittle, Head of Primary, International School of Como. Delivered by GA Publications Board

Lecture plus KS3 – P16
Virtual fieldwork – here, there and everywhere
Walton on the Naze virtual fieldwork
Stephen Schwab and Paul Hunt. Delivered by GA SPC

Lecture plus All KS
Teaching geography for the Anthropocene
Paul Turner and Dr Cyrus Nayeri, Visiting Tutor, Geography PGCE Course, King’s College London, Second in Geography, Latymer Upper School

Lecture KS4
Developing anti-racist approaches to GCSE content
Extra resources
Danielle Cooper, Head of Curriculum – Geography, AQA and Louise Holyoak, Anti-racism Geography curriculum group. Sponsored by AQA

Workshop P16
Teaching resources for glaciation, glaciers and climate change
Dr Bethan Davies, Senior lecturer, Centre for Quaternary research, Royal Holloway University of London

Teacher to teacher

How well do you know the area you teach in?  Ideas of place; getting to grips with them, challenging them and aiding students’ understanding of them
Lauren Wilcock, PGDipEd Secondary Geography Trainee Teacher 2020/21

My life under lockdown in Europe – mapping the new normal
Joanne Meredith, Co-ordinator and Teacher of geography, European School of Alicante, Spain

 

2 – 3pm

Lecture KS1 – P16
Food, compassion and the future of life on Earth
Phil Lymbery, Global Chief Executive, Compassion in World Farming and visiting Professor, University of Winchester

Lecture KS3 – P16
Tourism post Covid-19: An opportunity to ‘build back better’ or business as usual?
Sarah Rimmington, Area Manager, Discover the World Education. Delivered by Discover the World Education

Lecture KS3 – 4
Melted: understanding our place in a post-glacial world
Dr Chris Pyle, Head, Lancaster Royal Grammar School

Lecture KS2 – 3
The peacebuilding potential of geography education in primary classrooms
Dr Benjamin Mallon, Assistant professor in geography and citizenship education, Dublin City University

Lecture KS3 – P16
Compassionate urban geographies: fieldwork in ‘lived space’
Thirdspace
Las Vegas selected worksheets
Useful links Saturday 2pm Richard Bustin links
Dr Richard Bustin, Head of geography, Lancing College

Workshop KS3 – 4
ECGeogNetwork: how not to reinvent the wheel and flourish as an NQT
Gemma Thompson, Teacher of Geography

Lecture KS3 – P16
Progression in fieldwork through meaningful enquiry question generation
Handout
Dawn Thomas. Sponsored by Eduqas

Workshop KS2 – P16
VoicesProject: working with marginalised voices in schools
Handout
Handout
Chantal Mayo-Hollaway, Curriculum Lead for Geography, Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy

Research papers

An investigation into the construction of secondary geography teacher identity
Ruth Till, Postgraduate researcher, University of Birmingham

What is powerful geography at KS2, why is it important and what barriers currently exist to developing a powerful curriculum?
Josh Sutheran, Geography teacher

 

3.30 – 4.30pm

Lecture All KS
Building an effective geography curriculum – findings from research and inspection practice
Iain Freeland, Her Majesty’s Inspector and subject lead for geography

Lecture P16
The limits to compassion
Professor Jon May, Professor of Geography, Queen Mary University of London. Delivered by GA HEP16PC

Panel All KS
What should geography teach about humanity and the future?
David Alcock, Geography teacher, Dr Alex Standish, Senior Lecturer in Geography education, UCL Institute of Education and Rosamunde Birch, teacher, entrepreneur, blogger, artist and author

Workshop KS2

Handout 1
Handout 2
Dr Anne Dolan, Lecturer in Primary Geography, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and Joe Usher, Lecturer in Primary Geography, Dublin City University

Field Visit All KS
The changing industrial geography of Guildford
Richard Seymour, retired geography teacher

Workshop KS3 – P16
Getting to grips with enquiry
David Rogers, Director of standards and geography teacher, the Littlehampton Academy

Workshop KS4
Taking a compassionate approach to post-lockdown geography teaching and learning
Handout
Rob Chambers, Head of Geography, St Ivo Academy, Cambridgeshire / National Geography Lead – Astrea Academy Trust. Sponsored by OCR

Workshop KS3 – P16
Being Head of Geography: navigating the complexities of departmental leadership
Kate Stockings, Head of Geography, Hampsted School

Teacher to teacher

Developing ‘thinking’ geographers
Tom Highnett, Assistant Principal and Director of Post-16, Outwood Grange Academy, Wakefield

Compassionate geography – using stakeholders to explore key geographical issues
Claire Cassidy, Head of Geography, British School in the Netherlands

 

5 – 6pm

Lecture All KS
From Cholera to COVID: Why Maps Have Never Been More Important
Prof James Cheshire, Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography, UCL

Lecture KS3 – P16
Every time I see a river
Working vs long-term memory
Brendan Conway, Geography teacher, Notre Dame Senior School

Workshop All KS
Reflecting on #GAeConf21
Dr Becky Kitchen, CPD, Curriculum and Marketing manager, Geographical Association

Lecture KS1 – KS2
Planning for progression with compassion in Primary geography
Wheatfields enquiry questions

Sophie Brack, Primary school teacher and Jen Lomas, Primary school teacher and geography lead. Delivered by EYPPC

Workshop KS2 – P16
Coronavirus, connections and compassion: using the outdoors to promote positive wellbeing outcomes
Activities booklet
Resilience rope activity
Charlotte Foster, Senior Tutor, Field Studies Council

Rex Walford lecture
Lively geographies: paying attention to the world
Dr Sharon Witt, co-director Attention2Place

Lecture KS4
Challenging white GCSE geography: Global development
Dr Chris Winter, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Sheffield

Teacher to teacher

Adding mastery, breadth and depth to the curriculum through homework
Jennifer Monk, Head of Geography, Golborne High School

Geography 11-14: Exploring our changing world – a new GA publication
John Hopkin, Gemma Pollard and Rob Bircher