Geography
Inspiring in pupils a fascination and curiosity about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
Our Intent
We base our geography curriculum on the assumption that pupils need particular subject knowledge or skills to enable them to be active members of society, that they might go on to study the subject at university, or require particular subject knowledge in their future career. As a result, the curriculum has been designed to be fit for that purpose. The geography curriculum incorporates fundamental geographical knowledge and skills, allowing pupils to build on a firm foundation in future years and establish a life-long love of learning. This starts in EYFS where children explore the natural world around them.
Through the teaching of geography, pupils are encouraged to develop a greater understanding of the Earth’s landscape, diverse people, places and environments, as well as their place in it. This subject enables pupils to discover the physical and human processes that lead to the outcomes that we can see around us.
Our intent is to inspire in pupils a fascination and curiosity about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Learning through geography – whether gained through formal learning in the classroom or experientially through fieldwork and trips – helps pupils to be more well-rounded by providing them with opportunities to expand their cultural capital and experiences of the world.
Implementation
Our curriculum is based on the National Curriculum, the school's developed programme reflecting our locality and Reach Academy (Years 3-6). Our skills and knowledge progression map highlights the objectives taught in each year group. Concepts and themes are revisited (e.g. migration, sustainability, natural resources) and built upon through the course of a pupils’ time at Colville to ensure that they are sequenced appropriately and maximise
learning for all children. Objectives are broken down into three key areas: geographical knowledge; geographical understanding; and geographical skills and enquiry.
Teachers use questioning, and provide opportunities for discussion and investigation to support the development of vocabulary, which is explicitly taught and modelled by teachers in every lesson. Key geographical knowledge and language (such as, the name and location of continents, countries, capital cities and oceans) is revisited frequently, to make learning memorable, relevant and easy to retrieve through a low stakes retrieval quiz at the start of every lesson.
Teachers use a range of resources such as videos, photographs, newspaper articles during lessons to help create immersive learning experiences for pupils.
At the end of each unit, pupils will complete an end of unit assessment. This may range from a short retrieval test in KS1, to an essay, group poster presentation or individual digital presentation in KS2. Having a range of assessment tasks allows for more variety, increases engagement and enables pupils to improve their oracy and collaboration skills.
School trips, workshops and fieldwork are provided in order to give first-hand experiences, which enhance pupil’s understanding of the world beyond their own locality.
Impact
By the end of the Geography curriculum at Colville Primary School, we aim to have:
- Deepened pupils’ learning in the subject so that they are able to become independent thinkers.
- Enabled the acquisition of a wide range of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills.
- Increased pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the similarities and differences between a variety of places: local, regional and in the wider world.
- Encouraged pupils to ask questions and search for answers.
- Developed their knowledge and understanding of the changing world and the role that they can play.
- Developed pupils' competence in geographical skills (i.e. fieldwork, use of maps, secondary sources, ICT, aerial photographs).
- Developed geographical enquiry and have the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
- Encouraged pupils to be enthusiastic about their surroundings and their place within society.
- Enabled pupils to express well-balance opinions, rooted in excellent knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.
