pgqm - leading the way
DESCRIPTION
Presentation used during my session at the Geographical Association Conference in Derby April, 2010.TRANSCRIPT
in Primary GeographyThe Geographical Association Conference
Friday 9th April 2010
Leading the way
The PGQM
The Geographical Association developed the Primary Geography Quality Mark to support subject leaders who want to develop, evaluate and gain recognition for the quality of their geography curriculum. Using examples of work that have been submitted by Quality Mark schools this session will focus on some of the key areas that show effective learning in geography.
Key principles • identify and celebrate good
geography
• provide a framework for subject leaders/coordinators to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the geography curriculum
• improve for all pupils the quality of the educational experience through geography
Hallam Primary SchoolSheffield
• raise the profile of geography within the primary curriculum
…and in particular its contribution to citizenship, sustainable development, global dimensions, cultural and social inclusion, using and understanding technology, and in imparting a wide range of skills.
Methodist School, Wakefield
Used in conjunction with the Audit Checklist the framework acts as a tool to help subject coordinators identify areas requiring development.
The PGQM is underpinned by a self-assessment framework
In your packs
The framework is based on:
• The characteristics of geography in your school
• How well pupils enjoy & achieve • The quality of provision• Subject leadership and management
Linked to the Ofsted Self Evaluation Form (SEF)
A framework that guides you towards achieving quality geography for all
Auditing
Collaborating
Prioritising
Taking action
Evaluating
The PGQM self-assessment framework has been used by:
• School Leadership Teams who want to engage in a process of whole school supported self-review.
• Teachers who are new to the coordinating role and want help with developing geography in their school.
• Subject Leaders who want to lead their school through the process of applying for the Quality Mark.
How
the PGQM
Geography in your
schoolcan support you to enhance the
quality of
2010
It provides a focus for all staff to work together on geography
• And perhaps on whole school issues:
SustainabilityCommunity CohesionAn integrated curriculum with geography at the core
Promotes Enjoyment of Geography• Pupils are enthusiastic and
enjoy their experience of
geography
Getting ready to ‘fly’ to Mexico
Involvement enables you to discover excellent ideas for teaching geography
shared by other PGQM schools
Year 3 Local Area topic: Footprints showing the street features of pupils’
journeys to school.
Portway Junior School
THE LOCAL AREA
Evidence for C3a
Encourages work in
especially fieldwork
Views map-work and graphicacy as essential parts of geography
Two Rivers Special School
Evidences for 1a & 3a
Supports excellence in geography across the curriculum
Foundation Stage Austrey Primary School: Google Maps proved an excellent resource for showing the children a real river.
We discussed what the map might be showing, Katie said:
It’s here, England
They knew from their story, ‘The Journey’ , where and what the estuary was. Some noticed that the river got narrower. I used the words they had been using to sketch a map of a river.
• Armed with trowels we start to dig a stream for the Little Red Boat. ‘I didn’t know it
was going to be this hard work!’
Stream Building
Mushir and the Magic Rickshaw
Finally they planned a musical composition to go with the story
http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/curriculum-making/teaching-ideas/music-an-indian-journey/
Evidence for C3d
In pairs, pupils created a map of the main features of Kalpanagar & the Magic Rickshaw’ story was read. They thought carefully about the main character’s feelings throughout the story, adding emoticons to their Local Studies maps along with appropriate picture images.
Promotes connected cross-curricular
learning
Encourages Geographical
Thinking• Making sense of the world
through first hand experience
• Spatial awareness• Making connections• Creative & critical thinking• Investigating issuesWhat is an island? Discuss why this
was a good setting for Swallows and Amazons. Why is this island in the lake?
What is an island? Discuss why this was a good setting for Swallows and Amazons. Why is this island in the lake?
How could this stream move this tree? Why do the rocks near the water have no vegetation?Looking on the stream bed – what is it made up of? How and when does sediment move? This links to our work on rivers in year 6.
How could this stream move this tree? Why do the rocks near the water have no vegetation?Looking on the stream bed – what is it made up of? How and when does sediment move? This links to our work on rivers in year 6.
Thornton Dale CE Primary School
Seeks to develop active and informed future citizens
• No more relevant subject in the curriculum. David Bell
The energy team at Eastchurch Primary School
The PGQM password protected VLE holds documents, exemplar material and guidance.
Available in full to all schools who register for the award and to all GA members.http://pgqm.geography.org.uk
Contact [email protected] for your individual username and password.
Using the PGQM audit framework
Leader or Manager?What underpins effective
subject leadership?• Use the audit document to
choose 4 elements that you feel underpin effective subject leadership.
• http://www.geography.org.uk/download/GA_PGQMAuditChecklist.pdf
My choices
1. Having a vision2. Focusing on distinctly geographical activity &
experience3. Recognising geographical achievement
(knowledge, understanding & skills)4. Staff development
• "The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion."
• --Theodore Hesburgh, President of the University of Notre Dame
http://humanresources.about.com/od/leadership/a/leader_vision.htm
Activity: Geography for the 21st Century
• Think about the content and form of geography in your classroom or school. How might you want to reshape this to make a curriculum fit for the 21st Century?
Let’s think about Fair Trade!
Think about this image and ask yourself ...
What has this got to do with me .....
... as an individual?
... as a family member?
... as a member of the community of Watercliffe Meadow?
... as a Shirecliffe resident?
... as a Sheffield citizen?
...as a national of my country?
... as a citizen of the world?
... and when I’ve come up with some answers, is there anything I could choose to do, in any of my different roles, to make things (even) better?
This focus sheet, adapted by Ann Hamblen , is based on a matrix developed by Di Swift for the Valuing Places project – it should not be used commercially without the express permission of the GA : http://www.geography.org.uk/projects/valuingplaces/cpdunits/geographicalimaginations/
Quality Geography Is concerned with Geography for today
and not yesterday
Geography that is:• made to come alive for
children• builds on an
understanding of children’s `everyday geographies’ and helps to enhance geographical imagination and thinking
• concerned with their lives, their futures, their world
We are calling this Living Geography
• Often starts with local but is set in the context of the global (community)
• Concerned with how our world is changing and whether this will lead to a more sustainable future for ALL
Living geography - starts with me in my community
Identity: • Who am I? • Where do I come from? • Who is my family? • What is my ‘story’? • Who are the people around me? • Where do they come from? What is their
‘story’?
… it is about how our identity is shaped by the geography that is all around us
My place in the world: • Where do I live? • How does it look? • How do I feel about it?
Y5 Methodist J & I, Wakefieldhttp://www.quikmaps.com/full/47961
… about the changes we experience in our community and wider world
My place in the world: • Where do I live? • How does it look?
• How do I feel about it? • How is it changing? • How do I want it to change?
Oyster Park Junior School, Castleford
http://www.gowilder.org.uk/Oyster-Park/index.htm
... and about the world we live inThe Physical world: • What is the world (and
this place) made of? • Why do things move? • What becomes of
things?
The Human world: • Who decides on who
gets what, and why? • What is fair? • How do we handle
differences of opinion?
• Geography is ... a way of looking at the world that focuses our learning on what places and the environment are like, why they are important to us, how they are changing and how they might develop in the future.
Simon Catling (2004) Primary Geography Handbook
Geographical understanding is enhanced by: Fieldwork and outdoor learning
The use of: graphicacy, ICT, distinctive ways of using maps, atlases, diagrams, images, multimedia, digital mapping
use of specific geographical vocabulary
Active enquiry skills which are applied to understanding place, space, scale, interdependence, physical & human processes, diversity, ESD
Valuing own experience of space and place.
PGQM 3: The quality of provision
Geography is also a key subject:
• to engage creative and critical thinking about change (locally and globally) and possible futures.
• for understanding the world their social/ environmental responsibility and their place in it.
• for underpinning Global Citizenship
Achieving
recognition
for
Quality
Geography
2010
2 ways to become involved
1. If you are a GA member use the Audit Checklist and Self Evaluation Assessment documents to identify aspects of geography that require further work; create an action plan and develop these action points independently of the award process
2. Register to be assessed for the award and achieve validated Primary Geography Quality Mark status at bronze, silver or gold level.
If you decide to apply for the award – which level should you aim for?
Which level of the award should we apply for?
Bronze• Your school will have a small, but core, group of
people committed to teaching geography well. This group has an enthusiastic subject leader who is keen to raise the profile of primary geography and to share this enthusiasm with pupils, colleagues and governors. At the heart of this development will be the feeling that a geographical way of thinking about the world is both fun and essential learning for living in the world today.
Which level of the award should we apply for?
Silver• There is a whole school commitment to teaching
geography well and to the ongoing development of subject understanding. Playing a leading role is a subject leader who has actively led geography for at least the last two years and had a significant impact on the development of the geography curriculum. The majority of staff and children are enthusiastic about geographical learning, and there is a strong sense that geography has become embedded in the curriculum across the school.
Which level of the award should we apply for?
Gold• Geography is well embedded across the school
and has been the focus for active development for at least the three years prior to the PGQM submission. The school’s expertise is making a contribution to the development of geography in other primary schools. The school leadership team and governors support an application for the Gold award to celebrate the schools status as a Centre of Excellence’.
• In conjunction with the above statements, you need to read the PGQM framework (http://pgqm.geography.org.uk/2010framework/ ) which sets out in detail the quality of the geography experience at each level.
• GA members are entitled to access this password protected site with a password to access this site – please contact Julie Beattie: [email protected]
Completion of the PGQM Application Form (based on the self-evaluation criteria) is the basis of your submission for the award. You will also be asked to provide evidence of pupil work, planning and other relevant school information.
If you decide to register and apply for the award
• the AUDIENCE for the application is the GA appointed school moderator (someone who is passionate about primary geography) … and
When completing your application you will need to think about ... your audience
… your PURPOSE is to:
• celebrate the characteristics of geography in your school
• show how effectively children learn geography and whether they enjoy their learning
• communicate how you provide for quality learning in geography and whether your provision is having an impact on children as learners
• demonstrate how effectively the subject is led and managed
If you are interested in finding out more about the PGQM
• Contact [email protected] for further details.
• or go online at http://www.geography.org.uk/eyprimary/primaryqualitymark/ to register your interest.
• For professional advice contact Wendy North [email protected]
Other websites:
• CPD Unit: `Subject leadership in the primary
phase’http://www.geography.org.uk/cpdevents/onlinecpd/primarysubjectleadership
• Everyday Geographies (my personal blog – I’ll
add the 9 number grid activity here)http://primarygeogblog.blogspot.com/
Further support?
• If you want to continue to develop geography why not join the Primary Geography Champions Network :
http://geographychampions.ning.com/