Geography

Intent

Our Geography curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Children investigate a range of places – both in Britain and abroad – to help develop their knowledge and understanding of the earth’s physical and human processes.

We are committed to providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area of Doncaster and South Yorkshire so that they can develop of real sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special. We also developing the children’s ability to apply geographical skills to enable to confidently communicate their findings and geographical understanding to a range of audiences. Progression booklets have been produced to enable children and staff to plan their curriculum with progression in mind. They will be used to recap prior learning, explain the new learning, and give an insight into where this learning will take them periodically.

• Through high quality teaching, we develop the following essential characteristics of geographers:
• An excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like, both in Britain and the wider world.
• A comprehensive understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected.
• An extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Fluency in complex, geographical enquiry, and the ability to apply questioning skills, as well as effective presentation techniques.
• The ability to reach clear conclusions and explain their findings through excellent fieldwork skills as well as other geographical aptitudes and techniques.
• The ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current issues in society and the environment.
• A genuine interest in the subject and a real sense of curiosity about the world and the people who live here.

Implementation

We have used the National Curriculum as a basis of our Geography teaching. It has been used to outline the skills which the children need to learn to progress in their knowledge and understanding of Geography. The National Curriculum provides clear progression in skills which have been broken down into Year group specific skills in our own school progression document. Within our school we have chosen to use themes as a vehicle to teach the skills needed to be a confident geographer.

Children are taught a cycle of lessons, which carefully plans for progression and depth concentrating on the geographical skills suited to the age group. Teachers plan and deliver challenging questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner which allow children to ‘go deeper’ into their learning and understanding. Progression booklets will be shared with the children and knowledge organisers used to support learning and questioning.

The key areas for assessment of Geography are Locational Knowledge, Place knowledge, Human and Physical Geography, Geography skills and Fieldwork. Teachers assess against the skills through formative assessment during the year.

Impact

Our geography curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. Topics are chosen to enthuse the children and ensure the teaching of the key geography skills and maintain progression. Emphasis is placed on investigative learning opportunities to help children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of each skill. Children will become familiar with places around the world and deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and how this affects landscapes and environments.

In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• A celebration of learning which demonstrates progression across the school.
• Pupil discussions about their learning.
• The use of knowledge organisers.