Geography
Pupils learn the necessary skills and knowledge to explore the wider world. By providing a high-quality geography curriculum, we intend to give pupils knowledge of places, people, and environments. Through practical opportunities, pupils can develop skills that will deepen their understanding as they move throughout the school and into their futures. Pupils experience a range of Geography centred themes that give them a progression of geographical skills that they revisit and develop. The geography curriculum aims to support pupils:
- To develop contextual knowledge of the location of significant places.
- To understand the processes that create key physical and human geographical features around the world.
- To develop their geographical competency across data collection and analysis.
To achieve these aims, we explore issues such as climate change, migration, environmental change, and social cohesion. We implement pupils’ geographical development by exposing them to a variety of resources, such as maps, atlases, newspaper reports, and interactive activities which help engage pupils for the best learning experience in Geography.
Pupils’ research skills through undertaking fieldwork and the collection of data will help set pupils up across school, as well as support and develop a pupil’s responsibility, self-reflection, and creativity. Offsite trips, workshops, and cross-curricular links with Forest School give pupils further opportunities to refine their skills and develop their knowledge.
Intent
The aim is to equip pupils with a well-rounded and secure understanding of their local geography and the wider world around them. In line with other areas of our school’s approach, the Geography curriculum supports pupils to address gaps in knowledge, while ensuring they are developing the core life skills that Geography can provides. The geography curriculum hopes to inspire a curiosity and fascination with the wider world, encouraging pupils to overcome barriers to their learning through their intrinsic motivation to learn more. The six-year curriculum has been planned to provide pupils with multiple opportunities to repeat core skills, as well as a crossover of cross curricular links such as with history, science and computing, to demonstrate to pupils the far-reaching benefits of a secure geography knowledge. The repetition of key skills throughout the year and in different contexts provides the cultural capital pupils will need to succeed in later life.
Our geography curriculum allows pupils to develop their core knowledge through facts and vocabulary accumulation, whilst also building upon their sense of place. We encourage pupils to consider their senses, emotions and opinions in geography; supporting their personal development and their empathy towards other communities and cultures. We want pupils to develop an understanding of interconnectedness of the human and physical geography around them, and the causes and effect these have on each other. A balance of core knowledge and sense of place is planned for through our curriculum cycles.
Implementation
Clear, appropriate topics in geography lessons act as a starting point for the implementation of our geography curriculum. Pupils are provided with the opportunity to establish their language fluency, and practice using key terms and facts in their lessons. Our geography lessons aim to embed a secure understanding that can be evidenced through different lessons and topics. Geography planning across a topic starts with the end goal, such as an annotated map of the United Kingdom with key information on such as: countries; capital cities; flags; populations; and important physical and human features. Sequential lessons then allow for pupils to slowly build upon their knowledge and understanding.
Accommodation of the individual pupils needs, cross curricular lessons in our PSHE Curriculum are providing the space for pupils to develop their cultural capital as per our curriculum intent. Lessons that provide pupils with the opportunity to develop their empathy and relate to the impact of geography on other people’s lives are integral to the geography curriculum; as well as challenging and decolonising views and ideologies.
Impact
The impact of the school’s primary geography curriculum prepares pupils to have an open-minded and engaged attitude towards their wider community. The curriculum pushes pupils to explore other areas of the world and consider the experiences and perspectives of people that the pupils at Muntham may have never met or seen before. An acceptance of the livelihoods of others is nurtured through consistent exposure to pupils; particularly considering the social and emotional needs of the pupils.
Throughout geography teaching we ensure that pupils are enthusiastic about the wider world and are curious learners that carry the geographical literacy and skills that can serve them through our cross-curricular links, as well as in later life as they transition through their school career and into adulthood.