Happy New Year! Hope 2026 brings happiness, good health and fulfilment. A little ‘helping hand’ to ease you gently back into routine …
My recommendations
News
CLPE
CLPE’s 8th Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature was published last November. Its key findings included:
This year has seen a positive increase in minoritised presence in both fiction and non-fiction year on year - from 11% in 2023 to 18% in 2024 in fiction, and from 22% in 2023 to 27% in 2024 in non-fiction. However, it is worth noting that neither of these gains matches or exceeds the figures reported in the 2022 report which remain the highest reported percentages of representative fiction at 24% and non-fiction at 30%.
By contrast picturebooks have seen an unprecedented drop in the proportion of presence reported, from 55% in 2023 to 38% in 2024. Despite being the only text type to report a drop this year, picturebooks continue to have the highest proportion of presence across the three text types.
As CLPE approach a decade’s worth of data, the 8th CLPE report calls on the publishing industry to remain steadfast in its commitment to consistently producing high quality inclusive and representative literature as standard practice.
This prompted me to again reconsider the resources that I use with pupils. Does teaching and learning in your school promote representative fiction and non-fiction? Are picture books utilised effectively?
https://clpe.org.uk/news/8th-annual-reflecting-realities-survey-ethnic-representation-within-uk
Teaching it Real
One for those at secondary (teachers; Heads of Department, Heads of Faculty and SLT) …
Mark Enser’s post certainly encourages a degree of reflection, contains some sound advice, plus is eloquently written, as always.
Geographical Association (GA) blog
Designing a primary geography curriculum with purpose by Anthony Barlow is an easy, 3-minute read and includes useful web-links at the end to explore too.
https://ga-blog.org/2025/12/15/designing-a-primary-geography-curriculum-with-purpose/
Website
Forest Listeners
Forest Listeners is a new online AI experiment from Google Arts and Culture and Google DeepMind, developed in collaboration with their team at WildMon. The project invites people everywhere to help scientists by listening for the calls of hidden species in the rainforests of Brazil.
Users are taken into a virtual 3-D forest where they can:
search the Atlantic or Amazon rainforests for hidden species
train their ears to recognise their unique calls
click ‘yes’ if they do, or ‘no’ if they don’t. Every response helps.
Such contributions support the fine-tuning of Perch, an AI model from Google DeepMind, to accelerate and scale the process of monitoring biodiversity. By immersing audiences in this interactive and engaging experiment, they hope to inspire continued deeper learning about rainforests and provide valuable crowd-sourced support for expert-led conservation efforts.
Find out more about the project and how to become involved:
https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/arts-culture/forest-listeners/
https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/jAHbryPWSLc1rA
Resource
Richard Allaway introduced me to Textomap last month. It allows you to create, customise and embed maps. Try it for FREE.
There is a blog post, ‘How AI is providing new and exciting opportunities for teachers and students to engage with knowledge’, that is worth a read too.
https://www.textomap.com/blog/teaching-with-AI/
Book
Avalanche by Simon Fox is suitable for those aged 9 plus and perfect for fans of Alex Rider and Artemis Fowl.
Tom thought going to a luxury ski resort was the holiday he and his mum needed. But he didn’t expect kidnappers to take over their chalet - looking for the dangerous technology her boss has created - or for an avalanche to trap them even further.
Can Tom figure a way out, before it’s too late?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Avalanche-Simon-Fox/dp/1805133012
Podcasts
Upper primary/lower secondary
BBC Instant Genius Podcast
Scientific experts explain a new idea or technology within each episode. Those classified in the Nature and Planet Earth categories have strong links with geography, e.g. The surprising role of clouds in climate change: https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/clouds-climate-change-instant-genius-podcast.
View and listen to further episodes here: https://www.sciencefocus.com/instant-genius-podcast
Secondary
BBC Rare Earth
City Transport: Faster, Cheaper, Greener
How we get around town has never been more political, with controversies over low traffic neighbourhoods and 15-minute cities, and rows about congestion charging and public transport breaking out all over the country. Tom and Helen are in search of the kind of consensus that makes things faster, cheaper and smoother for all of us. What works and what’s been a complete flop? Should we all stop moaning and get on our bikes? Who is the reshaping of traffic flows working - and not working - for? And could Milton Keynes have all the answers?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002n7p1
TV programme/movie clip
The Geographical Association (GA)’s Secondary Phase Committee (SPC) have just released Part 4 of their Geography Leadership Headache series, which focuses on fieldwork and considers the following questions:
How can we weave fieldwork throughout the curriculum?
How do we fit fieldwork into an already busy curriculum?
Where can I access great fieldwork CPD?
How do we find time to plan good experiences?
How can we reduce costs of fieldwork?
https://geography.org.uk/secondary-phase-committee/
App/game
The Met. Office is launching their new-look weather app soon. Supported by extensive user research, they have developed a new user interface and codebase to make the app more efficient. The new design has enhanced visuals to make it easier to access and use weather information when needed.
More features will be added in due course too, including longer range forecasts.
Users of their existing app should be able to access the new version automatically, depending on their settings. It will also be available to download for FREE from app stores.
https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/weather-app
‘Geography in the news’
Government rolls back nature protections to boost housing
A great article for highlighting key issues our country is facing and a range of different viewpoints:
http://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3r7zp418p8o
CPD
Look what has just gone live!
Details about the next virtual Primary Geography Subject Leader Network (PGSLN) meeting with a guest appearance from Mark Enser.
Hope you are able to join us to hear updates about the new Ofsted Inspection Toolkit and the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR), plus consider ‘writing like a geographer’ and the integration of subject-specific vocabulary.
I now know so much more about climate action planning!
Many thanks to Nicki Schantz, Climate Ambassadors Southwest Hub Manager, for her invaluable input.
Looking forward to the next event in mid-January.
A couple of places are still available if you wish to join us.
Competition/challenge
Global Canvas art competition
‘The Book of Life’ - an imaginary wildlife guide listing as many as 10 million species - is the theme of this competition. Each time a new animal is discovered, such as the vegetarian piranha, the book increases in size. However, when a species becomes extinct, like the Pinta Island tortoise, a page is lost forever. For the latest Global Canvas competition, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation is asking youngsters to create a piece of artwork to exemplify how The Book of Life can be saved forever. Any art medium can be used, e.g. painting; sculpture, with recycled and found materials encouraged. The deadline for entries is 19th February 2026.
https://davidshepherd.org/wildlife-art/competitions/global-canvas/
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
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.
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