Geography: a Subject Hub for London

The hub aims to improve the teaching and learning of geography in the capital. It builds on the Royal Geographical Society’s successful programme ‘Rediscovering London’s Geography’, which supported over 200 schools and 800 teachers between 2014 and 2015. Through the development of local continual professional development (CPD) hubs across 16 boroughs and the publication of award winning online educational resources, teachers continue to develop their confidence and subject knowledge. The project also provides pupil engagement activities to promote the value of studying geography to higher levels. The project has expanded and has supported over 350 schools and 450 teachers in its second phase, from 2016 to 2017. Local hubs are complemented by a programme of subject specialist CPD and ‘Going Places with Geography’ events, which focus on careers in geography and the importance of further study. For secondary schools, the hub has specifically supported the introduction of new GCSE and A-level courses from September 2016. For primary schools it focuses on non-specialist teachers of geography. The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) provides complementary CPD activities to accompany this project.

To get involved -

I have been leading a geography network within the Harris Federation since 2014. We are made up of some fifty plus geography teachers from across London, and a clear need identified when I took on the role was for high quality subject-specific CPD, led by geographers for geographers. It has been fantastic working with, and being supported by, the Subject Hub for London.

The project has helped us source and fund subjectspecific training by a number of external consultants. Sessions have included; teaching geography at primary level, using GIS in geography lessons, and a topic update on geopolitics.

We have also benefited hugely from a grant given by the project, which we have spent on technical fieldwork equipment. This equipment is loaned out, free of charge, to our academies so they can run low cost fieldtrips for their students. As I go into departments and lessons from across the Harris Federation, I am pleased to see first-hand the impact the project has had on the quality of geography teaching within our schools. I look forward to seeing how our students develop into thoughtful young geographers.

- Richard Maurice, Geography Consultant, Harris Federation