Updated November 2026
I was very sorry to hear of Simon's passing on the 28th of October 2026, peacefully at home with his family.
His legacy and impact on Primary Geography education in particular is unparalleled, with 300 publications or articles across his career.
There are plans to celebrate Simon's life at Charney Manor, a place he loved and where he created and led the wonderfully inspiring Charney Manor Primary Geography Conference for so many years, which I was privileged to attend and speak at a number of times over the years.
Condolences to Simon's wife Lesley, and his son Mark and daughter Emma - and his wider family, and to Simon's former colleagues and friends, particularly those on the GA's EYPPC who worked with him for decades.
Please hold Simon in your thoughts.
Simon's daughter Emma and his grandson have been running 5k's throughout October
I was very sorry to hear of Simon's passing on the 28th of October 2026, peacefully at home with his family.
His legacy and impact on Primary Geography education in particular is unparalleled, with 300 publications or articles across his career.
There are plans to celebrate Simon's life at Charney Manor, a place he loved and where he created and led the wonderfully inspiring Charney Manor Primary Geography Conference for so many years, which I was privileged to attend and speak at a number of times over the years.
Condolences to Simon's wife Lesley, and his son Mark and daughter Emma - and his wider family, and to Simon's former colleagues and friends, particularly those on the GA's EYPPC who worked with him for decades.
Please hold Simon in your thoughts.
You can read his full entry on the blog and find out more about his remarkable career and impact here.
Simon was GA President in 1992.
Image: Provided by Simon himself when I wrote his original biography.
Update November 2026
Thanks to Hermione Miao for sending further details about Simon's involvement with the International Geographical Union - Commission on Geographical Education (IGU-CGE). This is an international community of geography academics.
Hermione said in a Facebook post:
Emeritus Professor of Primary Education at Oxford Brookes University and a former President of the Geographical Association, Simon devoted his career to advancing primary geography and supporting teachers and teacher educators. His scholarship urged us to take children’s geographical experiences, knowledge and voices seriously, and to recognise their contribution to understanding the world.
His widely read and cited IRGEE 2014 article, “Giving younger children voice in primary geography”, remains a compelling call to value children’s geographical knowledge, listen to their voices, and enable them to shape their own learning.
Within IGU-CGE, Simon helped keep our international community connected through his dedicated work on the newsletter. He brought together news, research and curriculum developments from around the world, and continued compiling lists of recent publications long after his term as Honorary Secretary. These contributions helped colleagues discover new ideas and learn from one another.
In his final newsletter as Honorary Secretary, in August 2012, he thanked the community with characteristic modesty: “You provide the ‘food and drink’ which I have been happy to serve.” His words capture the spirit of service that sustained this work.
Simon was also the first guest in the IGU-CGE podcast series, sharing his reflections on geography education and the people and ideas that had shaped his thinking: https://www.igu-cge.org/podcast/
We remember Simon with gratitude for his scholarship, his commitment to children’s geographical learning, and his many years of service to our community. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.
The Podcast episode was filmed in 2019 at the IoE.
Simon was asked three questions:
1. Why is geography so important in school?
2. Can you identify the most important/influential piece of research (idea/concept, process, approach, etc) in geography education during your career? [prompt: influential on the whole system; 'impact']
3. List the top 3 influential people in the field of educational studies who have had an impact on your work.
(Simon mentions Jerome Bruner, Richard Peters and David Lambert - with a mention for Norman Graves and David Harvey).
(Simon mentions Jerome Bruner, Richard Peters and David Lambert - with a mention for Norman Graves and David Harvey).
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