Article by Mrs Finney
Our Year 7 and 8 Geographers have been getting to grips with online mapping during the summer term, using an online platform called Digimap for Schools.
This brilliant website has been used by Sharples for many years, but during lockdown the University of Edinburgh, who run the website, ran a number of webinars that I took part in, with a view to creating a number of lessons that would be accessible online for our KS3 students.
Tasks ranged from the basics of searching for their house and Sharples School using postcodes, planning and measuring a route that they could walk as part of their daily exercise and creating a photo-map of this route using tools on the website. The results of these tasks are shown below, with some incredible photography skills and beautiful walks completed in the gorgeous early June sunshine.
Another fantastic feature of this website are the historic Ordnance Survey maps you can view. Many students found it fascinating to see their house wasn’t built in the 1950’s or that our very own Hill Cot House was a country residence in the 1890’s, as shown on the map below.
Myself and the whole geography department are so proud of how well the students have adapted to a new way of learning and embraced all the tasks that have been set. These range from an independent project about a Newly Emerging Economy of their choice to the impacts of climate change on our world and The Maldives. I am very excited to welcome both year groups back in September and hope that some of the skills they have learnt during lockdown will be utilised in their geography lessons to come.
