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The Society welcomes the publication of Ofsted’s Research Review on Geography, an extensive report using a range of evidence to identify what contributes to a high-quality geography curriculum.
The review recognises that geography gives pupils an understanding of the world around them, its environments, places near and far, and the processes that create and affect them. It also highlights both the successes and challenges facing the subject. For example, the success of geography at GCSE, with almost half of all 16 year olds now studying the subject, but also that the discipline has experienced a relatively low status in the primary years, where it has also seen a reduction in the amount of teaching time.
Ofsted does not recommend a single way of achieving good geography education, however it does identify key building blocks that all schools can draw on. These include the need to build pupils’ locational knowledge, the development of an increasingly complex understanding of place, the importance of fieldwork ‘which should be practiced regularly’, a recognition that geography is a dynamic subject with changing thinking and viewpoints, and the need for school leaders to allocate sufficient teaching time to this subject.
Steve Brace, Head of Education and Outdoor Learning at the Society, said: “This is an important report which will help geographers reflect on and review their own practice and also offer important lessons for school leaders in how geography can be better supported in primary and secondary schools.”
We are running a number of CPD events for teachers in conjunction with Ofsted, which explore some of the key features that subject leaders and teachers may want to take into account when reviewing their geography curriculum. Find out more.