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How to use Ordnance Survey Maps in the Primary Classroom

Unfolding a paper Ordnance Survey map always evokes in me fond memories of childhood days out and it’s great to see that such enthusiasm is still there when teaching in the classroom today. However, getting hold of enough paper maps for a class of 30 can be a major challenge (not to mention keeping them in working order!) and the area of study is often limited to whatever maps happen to be available. However, that’s exactly the sort of situation where Ordnance Survey’s Digimap tool can come to the rescue. Read on to find out how using Digimap can make the classroom’s teachers’ job simpler and so much more rewarding!

Of course children today are much less familiar with physical paper maps and are much more used to their digital counterparts - but making use of maps in the classroom has many benefits outside of just their appearance in geography lessons. The great thing about Digimap from Ordnance Survey is that it provides not only the benefits of understanding grid references and topography but also map keys and other details in an easy to access digital way.

With Digimap there are a number of inbuilt features, which I know from my own classroom experience, are really useful for teachers. For example, Digimap has the ability to interactively measure distance using a click and drag tool over the map terrain. As any primary teacher will tell you, children’s ability to measure and grasp the concept of distance can sometimes be lacking! Seeing on a map how far, for example, one kilometre is in relation to familiar landmarks such as a nearby shop to other places around the local area is an easily understandable way of seeing the relation between distance and location.

Maths is another subject area where a tool like Digimap can really come in handy. One feature that is lacking in other digital map tools is grid references. In the National Curriculum, we use grid references not only in geography but also when teaching many of the maths learning objectives. From shape translation to plotting points on four quadrant graphs, the ability to read four (and even six) figure grid references is essential learning for primary school children. Using Digimap is a fantastic ‘way in’ for children to understand how this works, and to have the ability to do this interactively and immediately is such a timesaver (I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve had to screenshot maps to demonstrate this on an interactive whiteboard!). Just like the example of measuring distance above, the ability to do this in the local area that the children are familiar with makes it all the more engaging.

Of course another important factor is that other digital map tools don’t come with the iconic Ordnance Survey symbols or terrain overlay views. Not only is map reading like this an important part of the primary curriculum geography objectives, but there are so many overlaps with science and history curriculum areas too. For example, the ability to view the WWF biomes characteristics laid over different countries and regions brings an understanding of how vegetation and climate relate to each other. Another good illustration of how useful Digimap can be is in history lessons, where using the inactive Ordnance Survey map keys can help classes understand the historical changes in their local area, and why specific settlements were built and grew up where they are.

As a final comment, using Digimap is particularly convenient because children can easily access the tool on computers or iPads. Paper Ordnance Survey maps are fantastic, but the intuitive ease with which children can create their own routes on the Digimap system not only makes teaching such lessons easier but only gives children a valuable tool in understanding their local area.

Robert Pokorny is a London-based primary school teacher and founder of www.schemesupport.co.uk, a scheme of work and curriculum directory for primary schools.