Geography
Our Geography subject lead is Mr Taylor
Our intention is to teach the skills required to develop young geographers with the ability to make links and connections between the natural world and human activity. We encourage children to ask questions about the world around them and to understand the impact humans have on their own environment. The learning of Geographical knowledge and skills should contribute to their wider interests, stretch their knowledge, help pupils recognise their responsibilities and contribute to other areas of learning. In accordance with this, our school aims to:
- Encourage pupils to develop a strong interest in their surroundings and in the world.
- Celebrate the variety of physical and human conditions around the globe and their place in it.
- Understand some of the relationships between people and their environments and recognise their own responsibilities toward the environment.
- Understand what it means to live in one place rather than another, recognising similarities and differences.
- Begin to develop a range of skills necessary to carry out geographical enquiry and to interpret geographical information.
- Develop a body of knowledge and understanding about the world which will form a context for geographical aspects of the whole curriculum.
- Develop a strong, lifelong interest in sustainable development.
Curriculum Organisation
Geography planning and evaluation takes place in year groups and is delivered as follows:
Early Years Foundation Stage
In the Early Years Foundation Stage Geography is taught with a cross curricular approach and the objectives covered are informed by the curriculum area: Understanding of the World. Geography is taught both explicitly in topic times and learning is followed up and embedded through the continuous provision.
Key Stage 1
Geography is planned as part of the topic work and is covered within certain topics across the year. Coverage and progression are documented in the progression document which has been developed and linked to the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England. They are then covered in medium term plans that are used to inform short term planning.
Approach to Teaching and Learning in Geography
Geography is important as it gives us the knowledge, understanding and skills to enable us to appreciate the world we live in. The basis of our teaching is to plan learning opportunities which are exciting and enjoyable for pupils. In this way we hope to foster a love of the subject and to ensure that each child attains to the best of their ability. We provide opportunities for pupils to;
- Investigate places through visits, fieldwork, photographs, videos, reference books and the internet.
- Explore geography through regular and high quality outdoor learning to consolidate skills in the ‘real’ world.
- Design activities that help pupils answer geographical questions such as: Where is it? What is it like? How has it changed? Why has it changed? How will it change next? What will happen if? How might it be better? What can be done about? How do I feel?
- Explore geographical themes such as islands/weather and the processes involved.
- Collect and display data and information and come to conclusions.
- Incorporate a variety of learning activities including observation, enquiry, investigation, games, puzzles, stories and problem solving.
- Plan the use of maps, atlases, globes, photographs and compasses.
- Encourage children to describe, explain, predict and evaluate places, patterns and changes.
- Plan opportunities for individual, paired and group work.
- Discuss issues and clarify ideas.
- Appreciate and begin to understand the wider culture of peoples and places studied.
- Make models, maps, illustrations and photographs of physical and human features.
- Play and experiment with basic materials such as water, sand, rocks and soil.
- Develop an appropriate geographical vocabulary.