Emma's educational round-up
A weekly/fortnightly insight into developments within the realm of education.
My recommendations
News
Updates to Ofsted Education Inspections (from September 2026)
On 12th June 2026, Ofsted published the first of their annual updates to the education inspection toolkits and operating guides.
Gloucestershire County Council has produced a summary, including links to relevant documents, on their Schoolsnet Bulletin Board.
Ofsted: Education
There is also a useful post to read on Ofsted’s blog (‘What you need to know about the September 2026 updates to education inspections’: (https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-september-2026-updates-to-education-inspections/).
Steve Brace, Chief Executive of the Geographical Association (GA), recently wrote an article for the TES Magazine about using the men’s football World Cup in your geography lessons. Might give you some inspiration for this or next week’s lessons.
https://geography.org.uk/three-ways-to-use-the-football-world-cup-in-your-lessons/
The GA Blog
‘Geography makes a difference: voices from the next generation of geographers’ by Fiona Sheriff expands on the theme set by Catherine Owen for the 2026 Geographical Association (GA) Annual Conference and Exhibition. Set aside nine minutes to have a read; it highlights just how valuable you are as a geography teacher too!
Website
Oddizzi (www.oddizzi.com) helps inspire children to fall in love with the world. Through award-winning films and resources, Oddizzi helps teachers make geography adventures, relevant and unforgettable.
Released this month is Oddizzi’s new film series on the Capital Cities of the United Kingdom. This Key Stage 1 series takes children to London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh to find out what makes them capital cities and discover their key physical and human features.
Films are part of a 12-month subscription to Oddizzi (£225.00 plus VAT). You can view a trailer film for this series here: https://www.oddizzi.com/oddizzi-resources/
Resources
Fieldwork: Investigating traffic issues
Engage pupils in real-world geography during #NationalFestivalofFieldwork month with this traffic investigation from the Geographical Association (GA).
It prompts individuals to observe local traffic issues, evaluate management strategies and map their findings using photography, as well as encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving. All can be achieved in a half-day session too.
Download the FREE PDF resource: https://geography.org.uk/resources/fieldwork-investigating-traffic-issues/
The Geographical Association (GA) has also added two new teaching resources to their library, which are aimed at Key Stage 5 pupils and focus on urban areas.
Take a look at them here: https://geography.org.uk/two-new-ks5-teaching-resources-available/
Book/s
Teacher Talk Radio
Fact to the Future! Powering Up Primary Non-Fiction
Louise Marie meets with Marie Zarro to discuss how to introduce non-fiction texts to the primary classroom. You will certainly gain a few recommendations linked to geography here! I first came into contact with Marie Zarro via LinkedIn and it turns out that she is based in the area where I grew up!
Podcast
The Climate Question: Can the World Cup cope with extreme heat?
Scorching temperatures are expected at this year’s World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. How will players and fans cope? And how will it affect the action on the pitch?
Scientists are concerned about the impact of extreme heat on the biggest sporting event in history.
The organisers, FIFA, is introducing mandatory water breaks to keep players cool, but experts say the hot conditions may slow down the game and give an advantage to teams that play more matches in air-conditioned stadiums.
There’s also concern about the health effects on fans. FIFA has put in place measures such as cooling areas and misting systems, but some say the plans don’t go far enough.
The Climate Question hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar chat to Dr Madeleine Orr, Associate Professor of Sports Ecology at the University of Toronto, and BBC Sport Correspondent Katie Gornall.
Katie also breaks down the carbon footprint of a World Cup that’s been described as one of the most polluting events ever.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct99hk
TV programme/movie clip
Geographical Association Secondary Phase Committee (GA SPC)
Watch the latest edition of their headache series (‘What are your Geography Half Term 6 headaches?’).
Headaches discussed in this video:
1. How can I navigate a specification change?
2. How can I review the impact of the last academic year?
3. What can I do to best prepare my team for September?
4. How can I make the most of fieldwork in HT 6?
5. What should go onto my long term/pace plan?
And, on a more light-hearted note, perhaps …
More than 30 years since the first film, the characters in Toy Story 5 are back and facing a new problem – the introduction of technology to their household, which is threatening playtime. This is a rather timely topic given the Government’s plans to ban social media for people under the age of 16.
Why not head off to the cinema with a spot of air conditioning to see it (certificate PG)?
App/tool/game
Our World in Data has an interactive tool that helps see where migrants were born and where they live now. Worth having a play, perhaps alongside GCSE and A level students?
In 2024, around 280 million people lived in a different country from the one in which they were born. That’s around 3.5% of the global population.
Where were these international migrants born, and where did they move to?
At Our World in Data, we built a graphing tool called the Grapher, designed to be flexible enough to visualize thousands of very different metrics. Unfortunately, it isn’t able to show flows between countries.
However, Sophia Mersmann has now built a specific interactive visualization that is optimized for this country-to-country data.
https://ourworldindata.org/where-do-migrants-live-and-where-were-they-born
On the left-hand side, you can see the total number of people living in that country who were born elsewhere, and where they were born. On the right-hand side, you can see the number of people born in that country who have moved away, and where they moved to.
By default, you see the data for Malaysia, but you can select any country you are interested in.
If you want to dig in deeper, here are a few other ways you can explore the data:
Look at the migrant data by sex to see where men or women are moving.
Use the time slider to see how things have changed over time.
Click on “immigrants” or “emigrants” to focus only on those views of the data, rather than migration in and out of a country.
‘Geography in the news’
One for those considering the impacts of tourism with GCSE and A level students …
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/jun/14/jamaica-beach-access-crisis-plantation-tourism
CPD
Royal Geographical Society (RGS-IBG)
Looking ahead to the autumn term (Wednesday 23rd September, from 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm) … a FREE virtual Teach Meet with a careers focus.
There are five speaker spaces available. If you wish to be considered as a speaker, then e-mail Alice Matthews with details of what you wish to talk about during your eight-minute presentation (a.matthews@rgs.org).
For further details and booking information: https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/embedding-careers-education-into-curriculum
Competitions/challenges
Clean Air Day 2026 Competition
Are you aged 11 or under and live in Gloucestershire? If so, then why not take part in the Clean Air Day 2026 competition?
All you need to do is draw your idea for tackling air pollution, then e-mail your drawing to glosclimate@gloucestershire.gov.uk by 31st July 2026. Prizes include Decathlon vouchers.
My Toy and Me story competition
The My Toy and Me competition invites those between the ages of 4 and 11 years to recall the story of a special toy, the adventures they have shared together and what might happen next. Perhaps, it might be loved by another child or recycled into something new? The winning stories will appear in a book, giving young writers the chance to become published authors. The competition is part of Recycle to Read, a campaign that helps families give unwanted toys a greener future while earning books for schools. Entries should be submitted by 1st July 2026 using the relevant form at recycletoread.org.
Opportunities for pupils
Nature Discovery Week (29th June to 3rd July 2026)
What’s living and growing on your school grounds? Use Nature Discovery Week to find out together.
Head outside with your class and explore with one or more of the National Education Nature Park’s nature surveys. count pollinators, record grassland plants or observe species with iNaturalist. Every observation your learners make builds a national picture of nature across school grounds, which until now has been a bit of a mystery. This picture is vital information — it allows you to make the most of your outdoor space by making evidence-based decisions, while working with Natural History Museum scientists to conduct groundbreaking research into nature recovery.
Discover more: https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/nature-discovery-week-26
Sustainability Futures Science Festival: The Next 200 Years (10th July 2026, from 10.30 am to 5.00 pm)
At UCL, step into the world of breakthrough science exploring sustainability and find out what might be possible over the next 200 years.
Take part in interactive stands filled with engaging, hands-on activities and find out about research from across the Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Risk and Disaster Reduction and Physics and Astronomy departments.
The festival is aimed at Year 10 - Year 12 classes, but if your school is interested in other year groups, please get in touch. From 3.00 pm, the festival is open to all.
Find out more/book: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/mathematical-physical-sciences/events/2026/jul/sustainability-futures-science-festival-next-200-years
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.
Stay cool if you can!
Emma Espley