It is time this page had new materials and we are looking for:

• Teaching geography to hearing impaired students;
• Celebrated high quality geography for life with pupils with moderate or severe learning difficulties;
• Inclusive geography - cooperation between mainstream and special schools;
• Fieldwork - worthwhile and welcoming experiences you may like to share with others - photographs are welcome;
• Fieldwork - addressing inclusion issues;
• Inclusion policies or self reviews for mainstream school

Kate Russell, Adviser for Geography kate.russell@staffordshire.gov.uk 

Meeting SEN in the Curriculum: Geography

Di Swift and Staffordshire teachers, Irene Corden (Springfields Special), Bev Rowley (The Fountains)Jan Bird (Moorside High), Julie Dale (St. John Fisher) have been working on a book and accompanying CD-Rom, just published by David Fulton, details on their website. It is £25 and essential reading for all in special schools or who teach pupils with SEN in mainstream secondary schools. 

Inclusion - what does it mean for geography departments? Our special school colleagues can help.

• Not denying groups or individuals achievements in geography;
• Providing a curriculum that is rich regardless of the individual's ability;

This does not mean denying the majority of pupils experiences in case you will not be inclusive! It is about providing alternative experiences to match their capability.  

Areas to focus on:

• The curriculum - questions of representation arise
• Data analysis - questions of achievement in relation to capability
• Differentiation in lessons - questions of challenge regardless of ability
• Fieldwork - questions of provision

What other questions can be asked?  Only you know in your heart whether you are being as inclusive as you can be. In the next three months case studies will appear here.

The Sensory Room - a geographical experience

Why not have a go turning your sensory room into a geographical experience.  Download this discussion document by 'right clicking' and selecting 'save target as':

The Sensory Room - a geographical experience

If your sensory room has been the rainforest, a desert, a big city, the seaside, then we would like to hear from you.

Teaching geography to visually impaired students

Stuart Snowdon is a teacher a school for visually impaired students in Worcester. I hope colleagues will find this useful, I know I did!  Feel free to contact Stuart for further information after reading his advice.

snowdon@rnibncw.demon.co.uk

If your colleges have any questions about teaching VI students in other subjects then please contact:

outreach@rnibncw.demon.co.uk

A personal view of geography

Geography really does matter in life. In order to take advantage of one of life's essential freedoms, freedom of movement, there is a need to explore and provide young people whatever their ability with opportunities for decision-making, enrichment and exploration. For all young people preparation for adult life involves controlled risk taking. There is evidence to show that fear of traffic and abduction has really taken hold of parents and young people are far less free than they used to be. Forgive me being romantic, but 'messing about was part of the way you understood the environment as a young person. Pupils is special schools are drawn from a wider catchment area and so travel further to school, they come from a range of different environments. Special schools have opportunities to use minibuses and can get out with small groups. This should be a rich geographical experience.

Evidence from research by Patrick Wiegand and Sally Beveridge at the University of Leeds illustrated that pupils with Down's Syndrome had limited spatial movement in their own local area for a whole variety of reasons but mainly because of the caring nature of parents and teachers. School work out of school, concentrated on the activity at the end of the journey and not the journey itself. The research illustrated that these pupils have spatial ability and can use maps independently to get around a town centre. However the research showed also that crossing a busy road without a pelican crossing caused difficulties. The freedom of movement gained by the installation of a pelican crossing enabled a young person to have the whole town centre available to them. These are issues for us all in society. Can we make independent movement a reality for as many of our young people as possible? Issues in geography should be real and relevant and there is none so real an issue as a young person a prisoner in their own home.

Planning, teaching and assessing the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties

QCA and the DfEE have produced some subject specific guidance material for special schools, which can be found on their website. The geography materials have general guidance on responding to pupils' needs when teaching geography and units for KS1, 2 and 3 pupils, based on the QCA schemes for mainstream pupils. These so called 'p' levels offer guidance to teachers on pre level one work. http://www.nc.uk.net/ld/index.html 

The Staffordshire Expanding Geography Scheme 

A special thanks to Irene Corden, Springfield School, Leek and Diane Swift for co-ordinating this project..

This is a geography scheme that aims to make the Geography 2000 curriculum accessible to PMLD and SLD pupils. The scheme has been written by geography and special needs specialists. It is based on the Heathfield Geography Project which was previously published by QLS in the1990s.

There is an overview of the proposed scheme, identifying the progression in geography, making clear the way in which our work is related directly to the programmes of study. Then there is more detail and exemplification at KS1, KS2 and KS3.

Click the right mouse button on the link[blue underlined words] and choose Save Target as or Save Link as'

Download the overview (30kb)

Download the Staffordshire Expanding Geography Scheme Level Descriptions between level 1 and 2 (36kb)

Download KS1 Staffordshire Expanding Geography (60kb)

Download KS2 Staffordshire Expanding Geography (68kb)

Download KS3 Staffordshire Expanding Geography (64kb)