Geographical Association

The CfBT project continues to support teachers in the implementation of the new secondary curriculum through the provision of online resources, local CPD sessions and a network of regional subject advisors who are available to work with networks or individual schools.

Visit the secondary curriculum support website, designed to help you in implementing the new curriculum and which offers planning tools and a variety of resources:

• Check out the Geography Resource Library, which gives access to videos, case studies, supporting materials and links. These have been developed with the GA and schools.

• There is also a Curriculum Planning Wizard, which will help you to plan what you are going to do and work strategically with your school's senior leadership to enhance and develop curriculum planning within your school.

The CfBT team at the GA have successfully completed major conferences in each government region, which have been attended by over 800 subject leaders. These have offered subject leaders the opportunity to get to grips with the 'big picture' of the new curriculum and consider the opportunities that the new programmes of study offer to geography teaching. In addition to the conferences Regional Subject Advisors (RSAs) have been working with networks of teachers in the planning of their new Key Stage 3, offering sessions on a wide range of topics.

Four PowerPoint presentations that were used in the Subject Leader conferences can be downloaded below:

Using GIS and LOtC To Explore Pupil Journeys to School (Teignmouth School)

Teignmouth Community College in Devon is an 11-18 comprehensive school with a flourishing and successful geography department. The geographers, supported by the Head teacher, have embraced the New Secondary Curriculum and have been very pro-active in developing a topical, relevant and engaging KS3 programme of teaching and learning. In this video, the department is seen working with the Local Authority travel plan officer developing a unit of work that involves Year 8 students in investigating 'Journeys to School’ by the students.

Connecting students from local to the global: teaching the food crisis (King Edward VI)

In this lesson Paula Cooper, an experienced teacher and Chartered Geographer, shows how geography explores real and relevant contemporary contexts. She teaches place, one of the underpinning concepts of geography, in the context of a topical issue; namely the food crisis.

View Full Video Descriptions

The new secondary curriculum is being gradually implemented through to 2011 having begun with Y7 in September 2008. We recommend that the whole structure of the key stage 3 is planned in order to create a coherent curriculum that shows progression on a journey through the whole key stage. Many teachers have adopted the dartboard curriculum that featured in Ian Dixon's article in the Spring edition of GA Magazine (Issue 8) on 'Visualizing the curriculum'. Members can view this edition online.

The CfBT project has received further funding which will last until March 2010.

Please get in touch with us if you would like advice or support on any aspect of your work at KS3. We are currently offering FREE CPD sessions on a variety of topics including:

1. Creating topical resources for KS3
2. Using free software such as Google Earth to embed GIS in KS3 work
3. Challenges and opportunities offered by LOTC at KS3
4. Ideas for cross-curricular work with a variety of subjects at KS3

David Rayner
National Subject Lead for Geography


(Page updated 21.07.09)