Geographical Association

The annual GA Awards ceremony recognises the achievements of individuals, schools and publishers during the previous year. This year's GA Awards were presented at the GA Annual Conference in Guildford on 14 April 2011.

This award is presented to a person who has made a significant contribution to the GA's work over the last 12 months.

This year's award goes to Paul Weeden has been a member of the GA for over 30 years and a highly active participant in the Assessment and Examinations Special Interest Group since 2000. He has authored and edited GA publications and contributed numerous articles to both Geography and Teaching Geography journals. He has been a regular attendee and presenter at the GA Annual Conference for many years, both personally and for the AESIG.

Paul retired from his position in at the University of Birmingham in September 2010 but in his former role as a lecturer in geography education always championed the GA, urging all his students to become GA members, purchase GA resources and attend the Annual Conference. He also promoted the GA's activities to secondary mentor teachers in the Birmingham region. It is likely that Paul has been personally responsible for recruiting around 300 new GA members since 2000.

This award is presented to those articles in each of our three journals (Geography, Teaching Geography and Primary Geography) which have made the greatest contribution to the development of good practice, as decided by a poll on the GA website.

This year's winners are:

The GA Publishers' Awards are given for materials associated with geography in schools and colleges which are considered to make a significant contribution to geographical education and professional development.

This year's Awards are as follows:

Gold: Digimap for Schools
Ordnance Survey and EDINA at the University of Edinburgh

Digimap for Schools website

Digimap for Schools, a subscription service from the Ordnance Survey (OS), has been given the Gold award because it represents a major development in the way schools can access OS mapping. A subscription, which will vary according to the type and size of school, gives unlimited access to mapping across Great Britain at both 1:50000 and 1:25000 scales. The maps may be used on PCs, laptops and interactive whiteboards or can be printed off at either A4 or A3 size. The maps are automatically updated online so teachers can be sure they are using the most up-to-date information.

Subscribing schools also have access to OS MasterMap, the largest scale of OS mapping, as well as to a 250,000 place name gazetteer.

Digimap for Schools represents a superb opportunity for schools to make more detailed and flexible use of OS mapping and should have a real impact on the extent to which students of all ages may engage with high-quality mapping resources.

Silver: Poverty to Prosperity Challenge Packs
Andrew Turney and Beki Cosh

Poverty to Prosperity website

These stimulating packs are the result of a co-operative project involving four countries - the UK, Bulgaria, Ghana and Hungary - and were written by geography and global education specialists in the UK with the English curriculum in mind. They focus on two themes: biodiversity and poverty, and climate change and economy, and each pack contains plans and resources for ten lessons together with a teachers’ handbook and student cards. The emphasis is on challenging students to think deeply about issues, to work collaboratively and to become actively involved in the issues being addressed. The packs have been given a Silver award for their ability to provoke geographical thinking, excite curiosity and encourage participation. As the packs are available free of charge, there is nothing to stop every secondary school investigating what the packs have to offer.

Highly Commended: Amazing China
Wildgoose Education

Wildgoose website

Amazing China provides a package that will enable pupils to gain a geographical, social and cultural awareness of China. It includes an extensive photopack, electronic resources and a teachers' booklet containing information about the history and geography of China. Amazing China has been given this award for its noteworthy contribution to the understanding of a nation that is destined to have a significant influence over the direction and development of the world.

Highly Commended: Flooding in Bangladesh: Causes, Impacts & Management
Pumpkin TV

Pumpkin TV website

The judges felt that this DVD deserved a Highly Commended award for bringing a frequently-used case study up to date. It emphasises contemporary thinking about hazard events, and personal accounts help explain the physical and human causes of flooding, including local and regional factors as well as climate change. The DVD contains high-quality footage interspersed with maps and graphics which are enhanced by comprehensive guidance notes. Pumpkin have also provided a range of activities which allow students to discuss the issues and look to the future of Bangladesh.

Highly Commended: Iceland Study Handbook
Rayburn Tours

Rayburn Tours website

These bespoke study handbooks are given to teachers and students participating in Rayburn's Iceland study tours. They contain 14 modules, each tailored to the aims of the tour and the age of the students, which range from straight-forward physical and human geography to more contemporary environmental and global issues. The judges found the content to be accurate, detailed, up to date and presented in an easy-to-read style.

Frederick Soddy Trust
GA Frederick Soddy Awards Page

The Frederick Soddy Trust wishes to encourage students' interest in field study by providing financial support. Schools often find it difficult to compete successfully for funds from the main grant-making bodies or to allocate their own financial resources to field studies. The Trust hopes to encourage field studies by providing support specifically for such work.

This year nine schools have won Frederick Soddy Awards:

• Bohunt School, Liphook
• Churchdown Village Junior School, Gloucester
• Esher Church Primary School, Esher, Surrey
• Fulston Manor School, Sittingbourne
• Haydon Bridge High School, Haydon Bridge
• Highgate Wood School, London
• Priory School Specialist Sports College, Southsea
• Raynes Park High School, London
• The Priory School, Christchurch

Go the Extra Mile

In 2009 the Frederick Soddy Trust launched the Key Stage 2 'Go the Extra Mile' competition in conjunction with the Geographical Association as part of its mission to encourage field studies in schools.

Students were asked to make a journey of one mile in any direction from the school, looking at people, places and spaces on the way, then record their impressions on an A3 sheet.

Congratulations to students from the following schools who won the competition:

• Winner: Furneux Pelham School, Buntingford
• Runners up: St Anne’s Catholic Primary School, Keighley, and Perton First School, Wolverhampton

The Primary and Secondary Quality Marks recognise quality and progress in geography leadership, curriculum development, teaching and learning. With dozens of schools winning Awards in 2010-11, we are unable to list them all here, but full details are available on the Primary and Secondary Quality Mark pages.