Oak KS3 Curriculum - taking shape ready for the Autumn

 

The Geographical Association has been producing a KS3 Curriculum for the Oak National Academy over the last year. 

The previous year,  the GA worked to develop a whole Primary curriculum, which can be viewed and downloaded here. I wrote part of this and also acted as a subject reviewer.

For the KS3 project, I have been working for the last year as a subject reviewer. 

This means that I have been able to read through quite a few of the units and help develop them to be ready for uploading. 

These will be helpful for those who need a framework for their work, units to plug in and use straight away or models to use for future planning. It may save time for some.

Fingers crossed

King's Ely has been shortlisted for an award... fingers crossed we move beyond the shortlisting stage...

Healthy High Streets

This Guardian article explores the changes in the High St, including the increasing numbers of vape shops. These have been joined by a prevalence of bookmakers (betting shops - some students think you mean places that make books) and pawnbrokers (that one might needs some explaining too...)

From the article:

The study, conducted by researchers at Health Equity North, looked at Ordnance Survey data to track how amenities had changed between 2014 and 2024. The amenities were divided into those seen as “health promoting”, such as pharmacies, libraries and supermarkets, and “health reducing” such as vape shops, bookmakers, takeaways and alcohol-only outlets.

They found a stark decline in healthier amenities, with unhealthy alternatives taking their place. Takeaway shops were up by almost a quarter (24%) across England, while the number of banks and building societies decreased by 40%, and supermarkets by 10%.

The report found there were stark regional divides across England regarding high-street amenities, with twice as many vape shops in the north of England. The number of takeaways in the north of England rose by a third (31%), compared with a rise of 18% in the south.

There were three times as many vape shops in deprived areas compared with the least deprived ones. Deprived areas also had 25 times more pawnbrokers and more than three times as many bookmakers.

Dr Eman Zied Abozied, research associate at Newcastle University Population Sciences Institute, said the study showed that high streets were becoming “less healthy and welcoming places to visit”.

We will be refreshing our Year 7 fieldwork for the new academic year.

We will be making use of Chloë Searl's fieldwork sheets.

Eating insects - have a Hob Nob...

As part of our Year 7 work, we explore the eating of insects: entomophagy.

As part of this work I say that I am going to eat some insects (given that we have some edible ones ready for them).

I then open a packet of chocolate Hobnobs (one of my preferred biscuit options)

Think about a field of wheat and the wildlife that is within it when it is collected in a combine harvester and then sent to be processed...

It is inevitable that fragments of insect bodies, chitin and the like will be contained within any flour or similar cereals that may then become part of a biscuit.

The same goes for breakfast cereals and other products...

Nordics

We will be introducing a new unit to Year 7. 

This draws on some work produced by Karen Corfield from Discover the World Education.

You can find the resources here - and sign up to download them for free.