Education: Discover El Salvador with CAFOD’s new Geography resource

To coincide with the release of the new Geography National Curriculum, the aid and development agency CAFOD has launched a free resource pack designed to support children’s locational and place knowledge, along with their understanding of key aspects of human and physical geography.

The primary Geography education pack, designed for Key Stage 2, will support teachers to deliver the new September 2014 Geography curriculum. With a focus on El Salvador, it provides photographs, online films and classroom activities to help inspire a curiosity about the world and its people.

TV and Radio Presenter Adrian Chiles, who travelled to El Salvador last year with CAFOD, said: “Photos, films and real life stories are the best way to bring subjects like Geography to life. When I visited El Salvador with CAFOD it was meeting people and hearing their stories that brought CAFOD’s work to life for me. I took lots of videos for my own daughters while I was there to help them get a feel for this far-off and wildly different place, and practice their Spanish. It’s great this has been done on a larger scale to benefit children all over the country.”

The resource, which is amongst the first to support the curriculum, enables teachers to meet the core requirement for pupils to extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include North, Central and South America, and to add a global dimension to other subjects across the curriculum.

CAFOD’s Primary Schools Writer, Gemma Salter, said: “We are delighted to launch this exciting new resource. The striking photo cards and films will engage children with a wide range of issues in El Salvador, including the landscape, climate, natural hazards, trade, migration and culture. Through four different case studies, children will develop an understanding of both urban and rural life in El Salvador, and learn about different ways CAFOD’s partners are working alongside communities.

“The materials and classroom activities will encourage children to ask questions and find out more. With links to local geography, children will also be able to explore the similarities and differences between their lives and the lives of children growing up in El Salvador. We hope that children enjoy learning about El Salvador and that the resource proves to be a valuable teaching aid.”

CAFOD has been working in El Salvador since 1970 to help Salvadorans build a better future through agriculture, disaster risk reduction, HIV and AIDS, and peace programmes.

CAFOD works with children and young people in England and Wales to deepen an understanding of the causes of global poverty and injustice, and offers ways to take action to bring about a just and sustainable world.

To view and download the resource visit: www.cafod.org.uk/Education