Geography

We’ve been using our “quiet time”  over the end of last term and the beginning of this term to develop some creative new day programs and units of work for the new Geography syllabus.

The biggest change in the new syllabus is the emphasis on fieldwork – Geographical Tools and Geographical Inquiry Skills feature heavily. Given that many Primary Teachers have no formal training in this area and are far more comfortable in the air conditioned comfort of their classrooms than in the hot, sticky bush fumbling over clinometers and catching bugs and analysing Topographic Maps, we understand the dilemma. The story is no different in Secondary Schools, where only 40% of teachers teaching Geography are trained in Geography.

SO…we’re here to help! We’ve developed a suite of new Primary Geography excursions, most written as entire units with teaching programs (including pre- and post-excursion lessons) and assessment rubrics. Your Primary Students can conduct their own Geographical Inquiry into population growth and development in North West Sydney, or they can follow an Oral Map on their own Learning Journey around Brewongle (learning about Indigenous Songlines), or they can assess the impact of various human activities on our recently departed Tawny Frogmouth. The list is growing rapidly.

We’ve almost finished our new Stage 4 Geography program which engages students in a Geographical Inquiry about environmental and human processes that form and transform the Hawkesbury-Nepean River Catchment. While designed around Landforms and Landscapes, this unit can also be incorporated into Water in The World.

We’re also offering Geography PD days for school staff. Bring your whole Primary staff to Brewongle for the day and we’ll run you through some creative, stage-appropriate fieldwork techniques and programs as well as ideas to support Geography teaching and learning in the classroom.

If you’d like any support with implementing Geography into your classroom or engaging your students in Geographical Inquiry and Fieldwork Tasks, you know where we are.