Geography
Intent
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Our Geography curriculum aims to inspire and enthuse our children about the world in which they live. It encourages them to be curious and inquisitive about the ever-changing world and provides opportunities to think critically about their own impact on the world. Our curriculum fulfils the National Curriculum objectives for Geography and provides experiences for the children to learn about the diversities that exist in our world, including people and places. As pupils progress through the curriculum, they will build a picture of the world they live in, human and physical features and how they are changing and understand the impact humans are having on the Earth. The children will understand their place in the world beginning with their locality and extend further across the rest of the world. As a result of a broad and balanced coverage of essential skills and knowledge, we aim for our children to retain their skills and build upon them throughout their time at our school and beyond. Our curriculum is taught through a creative, stimulating approach and lessons are planned carefully to ensure that there are opportunities to retrieve prior knowledge from previous lessons, terms and year groups to ensure knowledge is secure, developed and retained. Children’s knowledge and understanding of concepts is strengthened through a range of experiences including fieldwork, class visits and residentials that allow them to become ‘Geographers’. These opportunities encourage practical application of skills, vocabulary and knowledge and allows the children to see how everything in the world is interconnected.
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Implementation
Children are encouraged to work as ‘Geographers’, through exposure to a variety of sources, including fieldwork excursions and class visits, and high quality teaching. We implement a curriculum that is progressive, well-thought out and inspiring for every year group. Each year group has a carefully mapped out Geography curriculum that provides essential opportunities to focus on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum whilst enabling critical discussion about important issues within the world. These discussion points are carefully curated to include a focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which are aligned with relevant units of work to ensure that there is relevance and a ‘real-life’ context.
Each year group’s curriculum provides the core objectives and skills to be covered throughout the year, key enquiry questions that lead learning and opportunities for local study to embed children’s understanding of where they are in the world. Teachers use this document to plan suitable Geography lessons that are inspiring, progressive and exciting and as a result, children are enabled and encouraged to think as ‘Geographers’. Throughout each unit, children gain an ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate their understanding the of the world by formulating and answering questions that lead to their main enquiry.
We provide a variety of opportunities for geography learning inside and outside the classroom. Our children experience geography on educational visits; including exploring the local area, orienteering within the school grounds and at Marbury Park. Our Local museums also provide an opportunity to further geography learning, as well as trips to local woods, castles and using map reading skills during residential trips.
Impact
Our ethos is focused on children producing high quality outcomes and participating in thought-provoking discussions where they are able to make sense of the world around them. Throughout our teaching and learning cycle, children are encouraged to discuss and share their thoughts, opinions and insights with each other and the wider school community. They are supported to articulate their responses from EYFS all the way up to Year Six through regular opportunities for sharing and celebrating their findings and achievements. We believe that if children have become knowledgeable and skilful geographers, then they will be able to articulate their understanding with confidence. Pupil voice is regularly listened to and provides a clear insight into progress of all ages. Our children thoroughly enjoy discussing and showcasing their work within these discussions, helping to allow a sense of pride to flourish.
Children record their work in their Wider Curriculum books and Discovery books. All of their work is focused around their over-arching enquiry question and often links to other curriculum areas. Work in Discovery books is presented in highly creative ways and it allows opportunities for the children to express their artistic side and take ownership of their own work. When the children are involved in the process and allowed the time to complete their pieces of work to such a high standard, they feel proud and this further strengthens their interest in Geography. Our geography curriculum is also celebrated through engaging displays around school and shared on our school twitter page @LittleLeighSch.
Below are some examples of the beautiful pieces of work our children have created in their Discovery books over the past year. They truly reflect the care and attention that the children take to create these learning outcomes.
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