About Ollie
Ollie studied undergraduate Geography at University College, London, and at postgraduate level at the University of Oxford, where he gained an MSc in Environmental Geomorphology. He entered the teaching profession through TeachFirst and taught at Loxford School in East London before joining City of London School. He is now Head of Geography at Ardingly College, West Sussex. He thinks of himself as an all-round geographer with an interest in fieldwork and making the subject enjoyable. In his time teaching he has examined for several boards, at both GCSE and A-Level, written geographical articles for publication on numerous topics, served as Head of Department in all schools he has taught in, presented at GA annual conferences and carried out research projects in conjunction with the Institute of Education and other bodies. He currently sits on the Geographical Association Independent Schools Special Interest Group and the Sussex Geographical Association.
Support is offered for the following Key Stages:
Key Stages 3-5.
What can Ollie offer to schools?
Ollie has run sessions, written articles, and has experience in many areas. These have aligned with, but are not exclusive to, the following areas…
- How to include fun and alternative activities in both classroom and field.
- How to use alternative and local field work to connect with students.
- Establishing GIS in a whole school curriculum.
- Improving geographical knowledge through contemporary case studies.
- Establishing geography societies within a school environment especially student led options.
- Student perceptions of geography and how to improve GCSE and A level numbers – a focus on relevance and careers.
- How to gain effective student feedback to improve individual and department teaching.
- Numerous subject related areas from globalisation, to the Belton Road Initiative, to tectonics in Ecuador, to renewable energy in the UK, to coastal management in various locations. See bibliography below.
Ollie has been a head of department in three schools and has lots of experience in writing whole school curriculums, managing resources, and developing the geographical experience in schools. Particular areas of success/enjoyment have been…
- Establishing whole school field work programmes.
- Developing connected whole school geography curriculums.
- Improving extracurricular provision of geography.
- Alternative methods of marking.
- How to focus on the essentials.
He has also represented the staff body at two schools and served on good practice committees. As a result, he has some experience on improving communication and relationships between individuals, colleagues and SMT.
Format of sessions
Ollie is able to offer online sessions.
In person sessions may be possible in the Southeast (around Sussex especially).
Pricing
Ollie generally does not do educational work for profit. For one off sessions, expenses and a donation to charity would be all he requires. If longer time commitments were asked for some remuneration would be appropriate.
Other consultancy services offered by Ollie
Ollie has authored multiple articles for Geography Review, Teaching Geography and the Teaching Times website.
Geography Review
The Emirates stadium – a case study of urban regeneration (November 2013)
Holistic coastal Management – the SMP for the east Norfolk coast (February 2017)
Electricity from UK tidal energy (February 2017)
Tectonic Hazards in Ecuador (February 2018)
Water and development in Zambia (April 2018)
Can London become a national Park (April 2019)
The Hong Kong/Zuhai-Macan megabridge (November 2019)
Communicable disease - 21st century threats (April 2020)
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (November 2021)
Running a Geography club (November 2021)
A Brief History of Geography ((April 2022)
Atmospheric Hazard Management in the USA (April 2023)
The Geography of Eurovision (April 2023)
Managing coast – the Sussex Shoreline Management Plan (September 2023)
Net Zero 2050 – UK renewable energy (November 2023)
Teaching Geography
Some simple ideas for running a geography club (Autumn 2020)
Developing a departmental approach to GIS (Spring 2021)
Teaching Times
The Value Of Fun And Games In Geography Fieldwork (April 2025)
Several of the articles above were written using content he presented at lectures. He has also written unpublished articles for talks on the history of cartography, the current state of globalisation, the future of food, Globalisation – a COVID update.
Ollie produced an informal textbook for the Pre-U Geography course for the latter years of its lifecycle.
Ollie has presented fieldwork and tutored sessions at the GA conference, presented at GA and RGS Teachmeets and at numerous schools group meetings.
How to contact Ollie
To contact Ollie, please email Claire Brown at the RGS-IBG c.brown@rgs.org, and your email will be forwarded to Ollie.
