Geography

Intent

The National Curriculum states that; “A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives…” Through our own high-quality teaching and learning experiences in Geography we intend to inspire our pupils in the same way.

Through the study of natural and human environments, as well as physical and human processes, our desire is to provide our children with a sense of awe and wonder about the world they live in. We want our children to develop a range of geographical skills, such as collecting and analysing data, using maps and communicating information in a variety of ways. Alongside developing these skills, we aim to foster a deep understanding of the subject within the classroom and beyond. Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with the subject specific language they need to describe, question and discuss the world, as well as their place in it.

Our pupils are encouraged to recognise that they have a voice and to use it confidently to discuss topics that they feel passionate about, for example climate change. Through engaging, interactive lessons, we want our pupils to understand and feel part of their local area, their country and the wider world, and to wonder at the richness and diversity of human culture. We aim to help our pupils to become well-informed individuals who recognise their own role in becoming a responsible global citizen.

 

Implementation

Our Geography curriculum is based on the Maestro Cornerstones 22 curriculum. Geography is taught via knowledge rich projects that take place over a whole half term.  The Geography projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s Geographical knowledge, skills and subject disciplines. The sequencing of projects ensures that children have the knowledge and vocabulary to comprehend subsequent projects fully. Geography projects have also been planned to ensure that key aspects and concepts, such as physical processes, climate and weather, sustainability, land uses and maps are revisited throughout projects across our whole school curriculum and are developed as children move through the school.

All projects also develop Geographical skills and enquiry.  We strive to use our local community and environment to enrich the learning, for using our local area to look at land uses or to carry out traffic surveys.  We further enrich our children’s Geography learning through a wide range of engagement activities such as: immersive topic days, using field work and class trips.

To ensure coverage across our mixed age classes, Geography topics are planning over a two-year rolling programme. Please read the curriculum overview to see where the Geography projects are taught throughout the school.

 

Impact

Our curriculum allows children to take part in a wide range of learning experiences that are exciting and engaging.  Children talk about the subject positively, they understand the rich diversity of the planet, both in its people and places.  They show interest and wonder at the amazing aspects of our world both locally and beyond. Through Geography, our children learn to understand the important role this subject has in understanding how our world is changing and they grow to understand how they can play a role in the future of our planet.

This is what our pupils think about Geography in our school;

“We learnt about the interesting features you can find in the world, the physical ones like mountains and glaciers.”

“Learning about climate change is important.”

“We liked learning about different tribes and how they lived.”

“We need to learn about rising sea levels, it’s important.”

“I like learning about what different parts of the world are like, then I want to go and visit them.”