Curriculum

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Geography

Intention (Why do we teach what we teach?)

At Stoke St Michael Primary School, our children are Geographers! Our intent is to give every child a broad and balanced Geography curriculum that enables them to confidently explore and appreciate what is around them so that they have a deeper understanding of the world we live in. We want them to grow up thinking they can make a difference, particularly at a time when climate change and the global perspective are so important to our survival on planet Earth.

Geography connects humans to the natural world on a local and global level and helps us plan for a sustainable future. We want our children to love geography and to become good citizens within their communities, and consider future roles as climatologists, seismologists, oceanographers, geoscientists, tourism consultants, economists, weather forecasters, town and countryside planners, farmers, pilots and surveyors.

We want our children to remember their geography lessons in our school and to be empowered by them, to deepen their understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills, and to promote their moral, social and cultural development. The curriculum is designed to ensure children are equipped with knowledge about diverse places, people, natural environments, resources, key processes and human impacts and communities. To achieve this, we provide stimulating and challenging lessons and help every child secure and extend their geographical knowledge and vocabulary, as well as promoting a love and thirst for learning. At Stoke, we have a coherently planned and sequenced a two-year rolling programme, which has been carefully designed and developed with the need of every child at the centre of what we do. We want to equip our children with not only the knowledge gained from the minimum statutory requirements of the geography National Curriculum, but also the skills that will prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences of later life.

Implementation (How do we teach it?)

  • At Stoke St Michael, Geography topics are taught to mixed-age classes.
  • Topics are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each topic in depth.
  • As pupils progress through school, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
  • Geographical knowledge and skills are progressive and are sequenced to provide the framework and approaches that provide explanation of how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected, and change over time.
  • Every year, groups will build on learning from prior year groups, thus developing depth of understanding and progression of skills.
  • Teachers promote enjoyment and foster interest in the subject by giving real world examples and making links across the curriculum.
  • To support children in their ability to ‘know more and remember more’ there are regular opportunities to review the learning that has taken place in previous topics as well as previous lessons.
  • At the start of each topic children will review previous learning and will have the opportunity to share what they already know about a current topic.
  • To support teaching, teachers access a range of resources and planning from a variety of sources including the National Geographical Association and others.
  • Teachers use highly effective assessments for learning in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed.
  • Effective modelling by teachers ensures that children achieve their learning intention, with misconceptions addressed within it.
  • Through using a range of assessment tools, differentiation is facilitated by teachers, to ensure that each pupil can access the geography curriculum.
  • Children are given clear success criteria to achieve the learning intention with differing elements of independence.
  • Pupils are regularly given the opportunity for self or peer assessment, which will then be used to inform planning, preparation, differentiation and address misconceptions within that lesson, or for the next lesson.
  • Cross-curricular links are planned for, with other subjects such as History, Maths, English and Computing.

Impact (What has been the impact and how do we know?)

The impact of this curriculum design will lead to outstanding progress over time, across key stages, relative to a child’s individual starting point and progression of skills. As children progress through school, they will acquire knowledge of location, place, and human/physical geographical processes, as well as developing key skills such as map and compass reading and fieldwork observations. They will be able to appreciate their local area and make comparisons with other parts of the UK and the wider world, and celebrate the diversity of different landscapes, environments, and cultures. Children will therefore be expected to leave Stoke St Michael Primary reaching at least age-related expectations for Geography. We want to empower our pupils, so they understand that they have the capability to change the world. This is evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice, their work, and their overwhelming enjoyment of geography.

EYFS

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum supports children’s understanding of Geography through the planning and teaching of ‘Understanding the World.’

Children will learn to explore the natural world around them, discover some similarities and differences between the natural world and contrasting environments, and understand some important processes and changes in the natural world, such as the seasons and changing states of matter. They will also be able to describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps; explore some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country and explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.

Both the environment and skilled practitioners foster curiosity and encourage explorative play, children are motivated to ask questions about why things happen and how things work. Our children are encouraged to use the natural environment around them to explore. Children enjoy spending time outdoors observing the changing seasons and exploring different environments.