About Alan
Alan is currently Head of Geography at King's Ely Prep and also serving as Vice President Education of the Royal Geographical Society. He has over 30 years’ teaching experience. Between 2008-11 he worked as the Geographical Association’s Secondary Curriculum Leader and also worked for the Open University's VITAL service for 18 months. He was President of the GA in 2021-2.
Since 2011, Alan has worked as a freelance author and geography consultant, completing writing and CPD for Google, RGS-IBG, BBC Bitesize, Digimap for Schools, the IB, British Red Cross, Costa Coffee, South Georgia Heritage Trust, the Prince's Teaching Institute, Environment Agency and many others. He has led over 300 CPD sessions across the UK and Europe and regularly speaks to ITE cohorts. He was a UCL Fawcett Fellow in 2022, researching curriculum change, and has also worked as an OS GetOutside Champion and with the UK Polar Network.
Alan has written or co-written over 40 books and been involved in numerous ERASMUS+ projects. He has worked as a moderator for the GA’s Primary and Secondary Geography Quality Marks for 15 years, and also as a writer/reviewer for Oak National Academy’s curriculum project. His LivingGeography blog has had almost 8 million page views, alongside many other blogs and websites.
Support is offered for the following Key Stages:
- Primary (Key Stage 2).
- Secondary (Key Stage 3-5).
- ITE providers and mentors.
What can Alan offer to schools?
- Bespoke CPD – curriculum planning and development (virtual/in person; whole day/half-day/twilight).
- Resource writing / editing – textbooks, digital materials, classroom materials, video scripts, teaching manuals and content for websites and journals, schemes of work.
- Advice on resource creation – including video materials and teacher guides.
- Consultancy – curriculum creation, auditing and benchmarking (Alan has worked across southern Africa and Europe as well as the UK), editing.
Format of sessions
Alan would be happy to run both online and in-person events.
Alan is based in mid-Norfolk and can travel within East Anglia or to locations along the rail line from King’s Lynn to King’s Cross – including London.
Travel expenses are added to his fee, where applicable.
Pricing
Alan’s fee depends on the nature of the work. A typical day rate would be £250. Please contact for prices and availability.
Other consultancy services offered by Alan
- Departmental reviews.
- Subject knowledge updates.
- Reviewing content for accuracy.
A presentation showing organisations that Alan has worked with in the past can be seen here.
How to contact Alan
- Via e-mail: a.parkinson@gmail.com
- Alan’s main blog.
- Substack.
- LinkedIn profile.
