500 000 page views

Lots of views in the last few months and now up over 500 000 page views... thanks for reading.

400 000 page views

Another milestone reached... thanks for visiting and reading!

LivingGeography - another milestone passed

Thanks to everyone who has visited the blog over the years and/or subscribed to the Substack.

300 000 page views

It's 12 years since I started this blog, when I returned to the classroom after some time out working freelance.

It's taken a while but just passed another small milestone.

Thanks for reading.

250 000 page views

Another small milestone passed on this blog, which I started back in 2013. Thanks for visiting and reading.

200 000 page views

I've now passed the 200 000 page views mark. Thanks for visiting and reading.

Primary Teachmeet Session

 

I ended a busy first day of term yesterday by joining the other presenters at the GlosGeog Virtual Primary Teachmeet, organised by Emma Espley. I caught a few other presentations before I had to go to an after school INSET session. Thanks to those colleagues who gave up their time to join us.

As it was taking place on Earth Day, the general theme was Sustainability.

Here's the presentation that I used.

I referenced a few things that might be helpful:

- an article I wrote for Primary Geography talking about our work in KS2

- Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics work - including work in Amsterdam

- RMetS Heatwaves resource for KS2

- my KS2 blog

- 

175 000 page views

A little 'growth spurt' in the last month, with a year's worth of visitors coming along... thanks for your interest in what we've been up to...

150 000 page views

This blog has been around for over ten years now, and although not near the millions of views that LivingGeography has (and the even higher numbers that GeographyPages had at its peak), it's pleasing to see that people are still finding it useful to see what I've been doing in my classroom. 

You can also see some of our KS2 work on the Resetting KS2 Geography blog.

Thanks for visiting and reading.

100 000 views

Another small milestone reached this weekend as this blog passes 100 000 views. I started it back in 2013 when I started my new teaching post at King's Ely, so that's around ten years of posts on and off.

Wildflowers for Primary Schools for the King's Coronation

 I've set up a Google Alert for the term 'GCSE Natural History' and it sent me to a recent post from the Department for Education.

They are going to be sending Wildlfower Seeds to Primary Schools around the country.

According to the blog post:

This initiative is inspired by His Majesty the King’s commitment to the environment. Working with the Eden Project’s National Wildflower Centre, over 200,000 seeds packets will be sent to schools.

If planted together, around 40 rugby pitch sized wildflowers meadows would be created. The packets of seeds include native annual wildflower species, like cornflower, corn poppy and corn chamomile.

Planting the seeds will be an opportunity for children to engage with the natural world and learn more about the importance of biodiversity, as well as being a way for them to celebrate a historic national moment.

The Eden Project has produced some educational resources, and guidance on planting the seeds.

There is also a link to the new GCSE in Natural History which I am preparing resources for, and have a dedicated blog.

You can also join over 750 other teachers on our GCSE Natural History Facebook page.

As the post says:

We’re also developing a new Natural History GCSE which will enable young people to explore the world by learning about environmental and sustainability issues, and gain a deeper knowledge of the natural world around them.

HMC Blog

A new post that I contributed for the HMC blog. This is part of a series of posts which are being added across the weeks that the COP27 negotiations take place.

I will be sharing another post once the event is over and the final report and agreements are made public. One hopes that this will result in an agreed plan of action.

During the weeks, students have also been exploring the issues in KS2 and KS3.

Time for some hopeful geographies as well.

Year #10

It seems like no time at all, but I'm about to start the 10th year at King's and therefore the 10th year of this blog.

Thanks to all those who have followed and reading it.

1500 posts

This blog has been a bit of a slow-burner compared to LivingGeography. I started it around nine years ago now, when I was about to start a new adventure in the classroom, and didn't expect that I would still be working at King's, as Head of Geography in the Junior section of the school.

It's had up around 80 000 views, which is OK.

Thanks for reading.

Image: Sundial on Ely Cathedral - Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license.

Routes Journal

This is the 2nd issue of the 2nd volume of the ROUTES journal.

Routes is a peer-reviewed digital journal for sixth form and undergraduate geographers looking to read and publish geographical knowledge.

They publish work from all areas of geographical scholarship, including both human and physical geography.

Routes is a free, open-access journal with no pay-walls or subscriptions.

It is free to submit and review work for Routes and there are no deadlines for submission.

Well worth seeking out, particularly as I am pleased to have an article in the journal of my own research into the people who have previously held the position of GA President.

The editorial for the issue is here.

Well done to the other contributors to this issue as well:

Examining the impact of the East Coast Low Storm, June 2016 on Narrabeen-Collaroy Beach, Sydney, Australia

Anna Pennington (Teacher of Geography at Pangbourne College)

Landscape assessment: A useful tool for A Level enquiry

By Edward Jones (Geography Teacher at Buxton Community School)

Walking in Paris: locating hidden sights in the city

By Emily Chandler (Geography Teacher at St George’s The British International School – Düsseldorf Rhein-Ruhr)

I particularly like this article as it connects with some of the influences of my GA Presidential theme of 'Everyday Geographies'.

Exploring the interactions between children’s sense of self and their sense of place through sport

By Zoë Sayliss (Geography Teacher at Berkhamsted School)

The importance and relevance of geographies of wellness to A Level independent research

By Charlotte Fulham (Geography Teacher at Bedford Free School)

Why not suggest to your students that they write and submit an article for a future issue - all the information on how to do that is on the Routes website.

Thanks to editors Cyrus Nayeri and Lizzie Rushton, and the peer reviewers and to all those who have supported the journal in various ways, including submitting articles.

Cite my article as shown below:

Parkinson, A. (2022) Researching the changing professional profile of the Geographical Association’s Presidents 1893-2021. Routes 2(2): 67-79

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading...

Taking the traditional Christmas blogging break.

I shall be back early in 2021. This will involve me in developing some remote learning options for a short while at least, because of the requirement to introduce testing into schools - I shall refrain from commenting on that...

Wishing everyone who has read this blog during 2020 a peaceful break, and a slightly improved 2021 over the ups and downs of the one that is ending...

Image: Ronald Lampitt

60 000 views

Although dwarfed by the 5 million+ visits I've had to the LivingGeography blog, it's still nice to know that people are interested in what happens in my classroom too.

If you want to visit my specialist GCSE teaching blog visit here as well. It covers my teaching of the OCR B Geography specification.

Blogging break - see you in 2019

I'm going to take my traditional Christmas blogging break, and be back in the New Year, unless there are some events that I can't avoid blogging about... I've just had four days on the coast - lovely to be one of the few occupied vans on the site this week - got some further time away organised, and also some writing time, and plenty of family stuff planned... and my birthday too.

As usual, here's a Christmas illustration from one of my favourite artists: Ronald Lampitt.
And here's an extra one this year... a very apt cartoon...

Have a good one!

Thanks everyone for reading the blog this year

50 000 views

Thanks to everyone who's come and taken a look at what we do at King's Ely in the Geography department. It's taken nearly 5 years to get here, and I get this many views in just 2 weeks over on Living Geography, but it's a good start, and as I look forward to the next academic year, it's time to reflect on quite a few of these posts to shape what's worked best...

GCSE Blog - essential for Year 10

Year 10s - you need to visit this blog regularly...