David Rogers

It’s been quiet on here for a while as I’ve been taking a break to enjoy time with family and to mark the transition between Priory Geography and Patcham .  For those unaware, I start as an Assistant Headteacher in a couple of weeks (eek!).  This post mainly serves as a personal marker and a public thank you, but may be of interest to others.  At the end, I try to offer some learning / leadership type reflections ahead of the new adventure. Thank you and reflection In January 2008 I started as Curriculum Leader for Geography at Priory School.  Priory Geography was born and the rest is, as they say, history.  I’ve been reflecting on five and a half years of a challenging and difficult journey, one that had few easy, calm stretches.  Needless to say, I loved it.  Having said that, my time juggling the demands of subject leadership and having one foot in SLT told me that it was time for a new adventure.  More importantly, it was time to say go...

As my time at Priory comes to an end, this made me chuckle: It sums up my restless nature. The image above was taken at Durrington Station, I've been catching the train there for a while.  To the left of the image is the way to Portsmouth, and the the right Brighton where my next challenge lies. 'I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perheps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning' J.B. Priestly It's almost time for the thanks, but first a reflection on the year that has past. Words by Sam Atkins: Priory Geography Priory Geography has had what can only be described as a momentous year. Highlights of 2012-13 include:  Best half way Year 11 results ever (72% A*-C).  Year 8 Eco-Challenge.  Our own Digital Leaders presenting at Teach Meet Pompey.  Iceland’13.  Kids Meet and BBC School Report at Action Stations.  Mr David Rogers showcasing @priorygeography’s work at the national BE...

Lots of schools and teachers bang on about giving students a voice, but very few actually allow them to have one.  At Priory Geography, we have developed a strong culture of allowing young people to get involved in making decisions about school life, for example: The Space Explorers, Space Creators Building Schools of the Future Project supported by a 21st Century Learning Alliance Fellowship; Choosing our GCSE Specification during the last round of GCSE ‘reform’, and Creating the Mobile Learning Policy for Priory School. Throughout, we have always tried to engage other members of the local community, such as artists, mainly through the excellent and sadly missed Creative Partnerships project.  We’ve also always tried to ensure that the adults are the guides whilst the students drive and create. Today saw the first session designed to build upon some of the lesson learned during the recent ground-breaking Kids Meet Pompey , put together by Jo Debens and ...

I've been privileged to work with Samuel Atkins now for almost three years and I have a huge amount of respect for him. I've also unashamedly been badgering him all of this year to get blogging again.  Despite of this, he's written an excellent post that hints at upcoming changes and whether there is a need or a responsibility to blog. An enjoyable read and I'll promise to not mention any more blogging ;-) 

One of the things I'm really going to miss about working at Priory School is working with the fantastic and inspirational team that is Priory Geography .  You may have read recently about Director of Microsoft UK Education Steve Beswick's visit to the department. I am always keen to ensure that any visitor to Priory a geography finds us as we are.  Step in Sam Atkins : The purpose of this post is to share the lesson I delivered as part of Microsoft Education’s visit to  Priory School  on 15 th  May, and the inspiration behind it. For an overview of the visit  itself , please read David Rogers’ post  here . On 15 th  May  Priory Geography   were delighted to host  Microsoft Education .  The inspiration behind their visit came from a lively meeting of minds at  BETT   in January, where  David Rogers  had been invited to showcase the work we do here at  Priory Geography  using some of what Microsoft ...

As my time at Priory Geography draws to a close, I’m trying to capture all of the little things that have been set up.  I have already described the front view of a classroom in our department. This post describes the desk set up which is similar in each of our three classrooms.   Of course, Jo Debens , Sam Atkins and JP will say that it’s never this tidy….. Of course, there is room for individual takes and each desk is not the same.  What is si,ilar is the teacher desk position which is not the dominant feature in the classroom.  My desk is pushed to the back of the room in one corner while the other two are pushed into the front corners.  This creates ‘performance space.’ In my view, you shouldn’t be sat down at a desk when teaching.  Also, there shouldn’t be a barrier between the teacher and young people in the form of a monitor or desk. In some ways, this post linked closely by this one by Ollie Bray that sets out the minimum technolog...

So, there we were thinking that we had a quiet few moments at Priory Geography when Steve Beswick, the Director of Microsoft Education, popped in together with some of the Partners in Learning Team .  This post is also over at Priory School’s blog.   It was an exciting day, and we were keen for it not to be a run-of-the-mill school visit. I have been involved with Microsoft and Partners in Learning since 2009 and love their approach to learning first and product second.   On Wednesday, Steve Beswick, the person responsible for every PC in every school in the UK, visited Priory Geography.  This high profile visit was in recognition of the creative use of technology that the department has been developing over the past five years. During the visit he watched geography lessons; met with DiGITAL LEADERS; spoke to students from Years 9-11 about careers in technology and spoke to senior leaders.  Mandeep from Microsoft’s Partners in Learning also visited the s...

This post is aimed at Year 10 geographers at Priory Geography and uses a range of freely available tools that help to (re)visit the study area of Hengistbury Head. Fotobabble I've always encouraged students to use dictaphones and their devices' voice recorder for them to capture information in the field.  I always remind groups that ' eyes were invented before scientific equipment'  and what they see is just as valuable as what they measure if used well.  Fotobable, while occasionally clunky and glitchy, allows students to capture an annotated photograph that can later be transformed into maps / annotated photographs and fieldsketches. Here are two examples taken by myself: Flickr It's worth creating and sharing photosets via Flickr so that students can revisit the area. Priory Geography's photostream can be found here .  You'll notice that the images can be used to refresh memories of field methods...

“ I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.’ Neil Armstrong.   What an adventure the last three weeks have been.  Every now and again, a series of events unfolds that confirms that the direction one has taken is the right one.  That is to say, it’s the right thing for the young people and teachers of Priory Geography.  I thought about writing separate posts, but here it goes. Over the past 200 or so contact hours, from 25th February which seems a lifetime ago, Priory Geography has: Gone through another whole school Oftsed inspection and emerged in good shape.  Those that remember the reports of 10 years ago where every derpartment got a mention, will know how difficult it is to get a mention in a whole school report: ‘Feedback to students through marking is variable, with some very good examples. Students make good use of stamps and self-assessment trackers, such as ...

‘An' here I go again on my own Goin' down the only road I've ever known,’ This is a post about the proposed National Curriculum currently up for consultation .  Before I start, read the document and give your thoughts .   I’m already fed up of the ‘nothing will change so why bother’ response.  My response to this stance is: grow up and take part in the democratic process.  Now that’s off my chest, a few caveats: This is a response to the Geography Key Stage 3 Curriculum.  It’s the one I know best and feel confident on. I’m a teacher of children, not a Gove basher.   My job is to subvert, change, work with, create, make relevant and bring to life the curriculum for the young people I teach.  I’ll probably not vote Tory at the next election. Then I never have.  I will lobby and support the work of the Subject Associations.  I will get students to hack the new curriculum.  I will help to lead The Geography Col...

All teachers know how hectic a school day can be and how easy it is to get distracted and never get around to ticking off the to-do list.  Furthermore, it’s always tricky to remember those lesson insights / ideas / breakthroughs that occur during a lesson.  For example, our Year 11 sit an examination tomorrow that consists of an applied essay.  During the lesson, I came across a few barriers; overcame them and then shared with my colleagues.  The thing is, what if you forget? Also, what happens if you spot a great lesson idea or take a photograph that you want others to see easily? This is a work is progress as relies upon the fact that all of Priory Geography have iPhone 4S devices.  There are similar systems that rely upon other operating systems, and of course we use Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Docs and Evernote.  Last week, I started using Photo Stream to share ideas quickly. As the team can choose to have push notifications, they can be prompte...