Emma's educational round-up
A weekly/fortnightly insight into developments within the realm of education.
My recommendations
News
The Geographical Association (GA) is pleased to be working with the Department for Education (DfE) as an expert curriculum drafter to contribute to the development of a reformed Geography National Curriculum and qualifications.
The full list of the curriculum experts doing this work has recently been published here: The experts shaping England’s new curriculum | Tes.
Read the Curriculum and assessment review: 14 key points by Professor Becky Francis.
Geographical Association (GA) blog
I would certainly recommend setting aside ten minutes to read Fiona Sheriff and Maria Pitt’s recent thought-provoking and insightful blog post, entitled ‘Helping every learner access the world: reading support for EAL students through adaptive teaching’ (https://ga-blog.org/2026/01/15/helping-every-learner-access-the-world-reading-support-for-eal-students-through-adaptive-teaching/). I shall be referencing this during our next Primary Geography Subject Leader Network meetings too (see below for further details of the virtual offering).
Have a read of Zoe Enser’s latest blog post, ‘Should we still care about the curriculum?’; important points raised and much to contemplate.
https://teachreal.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/should-we-still-care-about-curriculum/
Website
One for secondary-aged students.
Each week, during term time, tutor2u sets a quiz, asking eight, multiple-choice questions about events relating to geography from the previous seven days. Each answer also contains a brief explanation. Suggestions are provided as to how you might use the quiz and an editable PowerPoint is available to download too.
https://www.tutor2u.net/geography/blog/geography-weekly-quiz-19-january-2025
Resource/s
Southern Water’s New Wave education programme offers free, curriculum-linked lessons, assemblies and trips for schools.
All sessions are outlined in the calendar below, along with a timeline showing how they align with key teaching events and celebrations throughout the year.
https://www.southernwater.co.uk/about-us/education/
Encounter Edu
Encounter Edu has developed full enquiry-based schemes of work for primary, Key Stage 3 and GCSE geography that incorporate the scientists’ experiences and research.
The Frozen Oceans resources include booklets with structured lesson plans, activity and experiment sheets, along with posters and other related resources.
https://geography.org.uk/resources/frozen-oceans/
Book
Swanfall by Sophie Kirtley is aimed at 9 to 11 year olds and was recently awarded The Times Children’s Book of the Week.
A thrilling new adventure story inspired by Irish folklore from Sophie Kirtley, author of The Wild Way Home. Perfect for fans of Sophie Anderson's The House with Chicken Legs, Amy Wilson's A Girl Called Owl and Aisha Bushby's A Pocketful of Stars.
Pip lives with Mum in their isolated cottage on the wetlands. Pip struggles to feel like he fits in at school. But at home, amongst nature, he truly feels he can be himself.
Just like every winter, Pip is waiting for the swanfall - when the flock of majestic Arctic swans return from Siberia on their annual migration. He knows every swan by their unique markings, and he loves to help Mum record the flock as they soar, shining through the sky, to their home. But this December, Pip's favourite three swans haven't appeared. Instead, Pip notices strange footprints in the snow, whispers on the wind and the sense that someone is watching him.
Something mysterious is afoot, and the adventure to discover the truth leads Pip to follow clues to an ancient curse that he had always believed was simply a fairytale.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Swanfall-Sophie-Kirtley/dp/1526642824
Podcast/s
Ecolution
Whilst the final episode of this podcast was released in July 2025, there are 100 to catch up on. It is aimed at young people, discusses climate change and how we can help protect our planet, interviewing experts and providing plenty of ideas along the way.
https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/series/30942-ecolution/
Ask the Geographer
Upcoming episodes of our Ask the Geographer podcast will explore weather and climate science, sustainability education, and critical ecosystems like wetlands. Listen to expert analysis and scientific debates, aimed at teachers and A Level students.
Episodes are available on SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple or via the Royal Geographical Society (RGS-IBG)’s website:
https://www.rgs.org/schools/resources-for-schools/ask-the-geographer-podcast-series
Geographical Association podcast: GeogPod
The latest episode (Episode #97: Philip Parker – wonders of the Wear River Trust) is a must-listen for anyone based in the north east of England. It brought back many memories of my time spent rowing and walking along the River Wear as a geography undergraduate at the University of Durham.
TV programme/movie clip
Met. Office: Have you heard of climate variability?
The Earth’s climate is constantly changing. There are many natural drivers of this. Natural climate cycles, long-term shifts in the Earth’s orbit and volcanic eruptions are examples of natural cycles and events, which have an impact on our climate, in some cases for over thousands of years. However, these cannot explain current warming, which is occurring at more than ten times the rate following the last glacial period. Current warming is caused by increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resulting from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels or changes in the way we utilise the land.
You can read more about climate variability here: https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change/natural-climate-variability
App/game
Planet of Lana
Lana is a young girl, who is stuck on an alien planet with only her pet, Mui, for company. The game is all about solving puzzles and Lana realising that she wants to protect the planet.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playdigious.pol&hl=en_GB&pli=1
‘Geography in the news’
Mapped: how the world is losing its forests to wildfires
Did you know that wildfires now destroy twice as much tree cover per year as two decades ago, a crisis which is fuelled by climate change? This article has some insightful text and wonderful graphics.
CPD
*ONLY A COUPLE OF TICKETS NOW LEFT*
Details about the next virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting with a guest appearance from Mark Enser can be viewed here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-primary-geography-subject-leader-network-pgsln-meeting-tickets-1977730390838.
Hope you are able to join us to hear updates about the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) and the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR), plus consider what ‘writing like a geographer’ implies and the development of subject-specific vocabulary.
Competition/challenge
Big Walk and Wheel
Big Walk and Wheel inspires pupils to make active journeys to school, improve air quality in their neighbourhood and discover how these changes benefit their world.
It is open to all primary and secondary schools in the UK, including SEN/ASN/ALN schools, is FREE to take part and has daily prizes to be won.
On each day of the challenge, schools compete to see who can gain the highest percentage of their pupils walking, using a wheelchair, scooting or cycling to school. Your school’s best five days will determine your final position, but you can log journeys on all ten days if you wish.
How many active journeys will your pupils make?
Help reduce air pollution and learn about the benefits of active travel for yourself, your school, your neighbourhood and even the world.
Register: https://bigwalkandwheel.org.uk/register
World Children’s Haiku Contest
The JAL Foundation and the Japan Society are organising the 19th World Children’s Haiku Contest. Haikus are a form of short poetry that originated in Japan. They do not need to rhyme, but must have a fixed three-line structure. They usually have 17 syllables, split over three lines: five syllables, then seven, then another five. This year’s contest takes the theme of ‘sound’. Haikus could be written about anything linked to this. Why not use this as a chance to ‘take learning beyond the classroom’? Go outside, ask pupils to edit a soundscape template and use this as inspiration for their haiku. The winning poems will be announced in July, with prizes, such as a Canon Zoemini S2 camera, up for grabs.
For more details, see: https://www.japansociety.org.uk/haiku-contest-2025-2026
Opportunities for pupils
Primary (Key Stage 2)
Step into the Amazon’s last virtual multi-schools event included a live link with Chico, chief of the Aldeia Tururukari-uka tribe from the Kambeba indigenous community in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, at COP30 in Belem. Building bridges between the UK and Brazil is their overall aim. This was a very special moment, both for teachers and children here and those in Brazil.
Read about the latest session: https://stepintotheamazon.co.uk/2025/11/12/a-new-stance-for-2025-2026/
Details about the next similar event on Tuesday 27th January 2026 can be gleaned here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-amazing-amazon-adventure-tickets-1976581804385?aff=oddtdtcreator
Primary and secondary
Dive into ocean curiosity during British Science Week!
This year’s theme is all about curiosity and asking questions. There will be a FREE live stream from the National Marine Aquarium, which is aimed at primary and secondary pupils (see dates and times below). Learners are invited to submit their ocean questions in advance - from why the ocean is blue to whether fish can drown - with the favourites answered live through experiments and demonstrations.
Event dates
KS3+ session: Wednesday 6th March – 9:15 - 10:00 am
KS1 – KS2 session: Wednesday 13th March – 9:15 - 10:00 am
If your question is read out or answered, then you will win a prize; however, you will need to watch live to find out how to claim. Submit your questions by Friday 13th February and sign up via the link below.
https://oceanconservationtrust.org/british-science-week/
Secondary
Information about GlosGeog’s next virtual speaker session can be found below. I am looking forward to hearing from Dr Billy Clayton and learning more about a city that I frequently visit. This is proving very popular, with only a few school spaces now left.
Hope the above provides some inspiration and saves you time. Do let me know if you make use of any of the recommendations or have others that I have missed; I do love to hear about, and see evidence of, pupils in action both in and beyond the classroom.
Emma Espley