“Geography is not just about memorising places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures, and using that knowledge to bridge divides.”
- Barack Obama
Geography as a dynamic and evolving subject helps learners make sense of the world around them through exploring the relationships between people, places, and environments, and how human and physical processes shape our planet. It provides the foundation for understanding global interdependence, environmental change, and spatial awareness whilst unlocking learners’ ability to think critically about the challenges and opportunities facing our world today.
Through subject-specific training sessions, trainees will develop secure knowledge of key geographical concepts such as place, space, scale, and sustainability, while refining the pedagogical skills essential to high-quality geography teaching. You will also explore how to inspire curiosity and wonder about the world, enabling pupils to investigate geographical questions, interpret data, and develop a sense of responsibility for the environment and global citizenship.
You will train within a dedicated Geography cohort throughout the year. This focused approach ensures that you develop the knowledge and skills necessary to teach across the full geography curriculum.
All secondary Geography trainees receive specialist subject training within their placement schools, supported by a dedicated and highly experienced subject mentor. Explicit links are made across teaching phases from KS2 to KS5, ensuring the content goes beyond the KS3 and KS4 National Curriculum to promote a deep understanding of geographical enquiry, disciplinary thinking, and learner progression across all key stages.
My name is Katy Conlon and I have the amazing role of being your Subject Lead for Geography. It is an absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to work with fellow geographers as enthusiastic and dedicated as myself to the subject and to educating young people. I have worked in secondary schools in Yorkshire for 16 years in a range of roles including Head of Department. I am a human geography specialist, and my passion is the development of countries and the lives of the people who live in them. I feel that Geography is a subject of the past, the present and the future and we are preparing our students to be global citizens as well as developing critical thinking, creativity and independence.
Throughout the year, our subject sessions will give you the opportunity to ask questions, learn strategies and study the evidence that underpins good teaching and learning and good geographical knowledge. We will explore physical and human concepts and processes alongside geographical skills and knowledge to deepen your subject knowledge along with the pedagogy required to become confident and reflective classroom practitioners.