GA Annual Conference 2026

Music is a dynamic, everyday phenomenon that connects people, places and cultures. It offers a powerful lens through which to understand the world and our place within it. From local rhythms to global genres, music and its associated visuals provide students and teachers with meaningful insights into diverse environments that help shape their worldview. For this collaborative session, Matt will share how an idea to showcase his vinyl collection evolved into a rich, three-week unit on the geography of music for KS3 students. This explores themes such as sense of place, landscape and emotion, and the role of music in shaping our cultural identity, and addresses how music can be both a unifying and divisive force. Alan will share his new World of Music blog, which charts a year-long journey through curriculum resources and collaborative pedagogy around music and its meanings; a playlist of ideas for teaching everyday geographies. You will gain practical ideas, resources and inspiration for incorporating music into your own geography curriculum. This one goes up to 11!

Alistair and Brendan will explore three pioneering approaches which will make a significant difference to the full integration of GIS in schools:
- The first knowledge-rich statutory curriculum approach to GIS: Curriculum references to GIS can be high in aspiration but low in detail. How can we scaffold application to bring real impact to such aspiration?
- The first GIS integration within a fully-sequenced curriculum plan and lessons by Oak National Academy.
- The first GIS app for schools created with the help of agentic AI.

Oracy involves engaging with others through speaking, listening and communication. Research shows that this makes a difference to students’ learning. This lecture will illustrate how oracy enables students to make sense of geographical data, ideas and issues by exploring them in small group and whole-class discussion. Through participation in classroom talk, students develop vital life-skills of communication, collaboration, co-operation and criticality.