Geography Vision Statement

Intent

We believe that through Geography, our children will develop a deep curiosity of the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. They will develop a fascination in finding out about the world in which they live, both at a local, national and global level and will understand how human and physical environments are interconnected.

Through well-informed and adaptive teaching, children will acquire a deep knowledge of the world including its diverse places, people and resources and a greater understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

We want our children:

• To develop and passion and curiosity for geography
• To know the locations of significantly important places in the world
• To identify and name key human and physical geographical processes
• To know that human and physical environments are interconnected and affect one another
• To develop a respect for and interest in people throughout the world
• To understand what it means to be a positive citizen in a multicultural society
• To be given the opportunity to experience fieldwork
• To be able to communicate geographical information in different ways
• To develop the ability to express well balanced opinions about the world
• To have a good understanding of environmental problems at a local, regional and global level
• To know how they can have a positive impact on the world’s future

We aim to provide children with opportunities to broaden their geographical vocabulary, enabling them to communicate confidently about the world around them, identifying places, features and processes.

We want all our children to develop skills of enquiry and to be able to ask geographical questions. Children at our school will become global citizens and they will be encouraged to make connections between how their behaviour can affect the world’s people, places and cultures.

Through classroom, whole school and out of school experiences, our children will develop their ability to question, think critically, investigate, analyse and present geographical information. They will be able to use maps, atlases, compasses, photographs and digital technology to demonstrate their knowledge or findings.

Our children will understand the importance of knowing who they are, their heritage and what makes the local area unique and special.

Geography teaching within the school will always strive to celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of our children and families and be accessible and relevant to all.

Implementation

Planning and Delivery

Geography is taught through mainly a ‘topic based’ approach. Termly topic schemes of work outline the geography skills taught across the school. These plans have been designed using the expectations outlined in the National Curriculum and Chris Quigley’s ‘Essential Curriculum’.

Geography across the school is taught through a mixture of continuous provision, large topic units and exclusive lessons, depending on which is most appropriate for the key stage. Specific lesson content is planned by class teachers, overseen by the subject lead.

Lessons contain meaningful opportunities for discussions, debate and dialogue. Geography teaching also provides opportunities for collecting, sorting, interpreting and representing data and identifying links between concepts.

Approach

The Geography curriculum covers cyclical themes, taken from the Essentials and National curriculum, designed to build on prior knowledge and extend understanding.

Learning is consolidated and encouraged to stick by regular retrieval practice; PoP tasks, spacing new knowledge, making connections; applying, explaining and justifying by using current and past knowledge organisers.

Progression

As children move up through the school, they revisit knowledge, skills and concepts previously taught and build upon this prior knowledge with new learning objectives. Children, continue to develop subject-specific vocabulary enabling them to identify, name and describe the features of locations and the human and physical process at work there. Children will develop over time a deeper ‘Geographical knowledge’ and will be able to express increasingly well-balanced opinions about the world around them.

Challenge

Probing questions following on from active listening offer up opportunities for challenge within Geography; as does asking children to justify their thinking, and to find evidence to support their views points and opinions from a variety of sources.

Teachers use children’s individual starting points to provide challenge activities and learning, in line with our St Francis of Assisi Teaching Backwards Approach and our FACE model of teaching and learning.

Teachers use an adaptive teaching approach to ensure inclusivity within the curriculum.

Enrichment

Where possible and practical, Geography is enriched by developing cross-curricular links between other areas of the curriculum, through history, art and music opportunities. Children also have the opportunity to undertake practical fieldwork through local visits and residential trips.

Impact

Measuring Impact

We measure the impact of our Geography curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding through assessment tools such as PoP tasks, big questions, pre and post learning challenges and quizzes
• Interviewing children about their learning (pupil voice)
• Lesson observations
• Learning Walks
• Reviewing pupils work (‘book looks’)
• Observation of practical activities
• Moderation of work across the school

This evidence of children’s learning enables teachers to close the gaps in pupils’ knowledge or skills by amending planning, revisiting or interleaving knowledge, by adapting teaching and/or by flexibly grouping.

The Geography Lead takes responsibility for ensuring coverage, progression and standards through long and medium-term planning, promoting the subject and developing the teaching methodology and securing high quality resources. They regularly monitor and evaluate learning, teaching and the curriculum.