Geography

  • Mr Phillips

    Mr Phillips is the Geography subject leader at our School.

 

Intent

The aim of the Shilbottle Primary geography curriculum is to provide a high-quality geography education that will help pupils’ development of geographical concepts, knowledge and skills by enabling children to identify, investigate, analyse and communicate like geographers. Building on the special characteristics of our pupils and their experiences, Shilbottle Primary provides a carefully planned, balanced and relevant curriculum that explores, and makes use of, the depth of the unique geographical features and resources within the immediate and wider area to develop a deeper understanding of the locality and its communities. Through a clear sequence of learning opportunities and careful differentiation of subject matter, opportunities are provided to connect, compare and contrast physical and human features in the local area to those of the wider world and how these features shape its location and how they can change over time.   

 

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in history, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) follows the ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’ guidance, which aims for all children in the Foundation Stage to have an ‘Understanding of the World’; people and communities, the world and technology’  by the end of the academic year. In KS1 and 2, geography is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England and is taught in blocks throughout the year, to ensure children have depth in their learning.

All learning starts by revisiting prior knowledge and is scaffolded to support children in recalling information and making connections. Careful consideration is given to how learners will be supported in their work in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. Knowledge organisers are provided to assist in retaining facts and gives important geographical vocabulary; they are used for pre-teaching, supporting home learning, highlighting key vocabulary and assessing learning throughout the relevant topic. In order to foster children’s curiosity, interests and creativity, learning is carefully planned to utilise the depth of local human and physical geographical features in the surrounding area to develop a fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them throughout their lives. Teachers are encouraged to consider those opportunities presented in the school grounds and the local area for fieldwork to enable children to base learning on first-hand experiences to enhance knowledge and understanding in geography. Through the development and understanding of the natural and built environments around them, children will extend their knowledge and understanding by exploring the world around them and investigate similarities, differences, patterns and change of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Links to other areas within the curriculum are used to deepen learning and develop key skills. Strong links are made between English lessons and the geography curriculum enabling further contextual learning through non-fiction writing. 

 

Impact

Outcomes of work are monitored through an end of topic assessment as detailed in pupils Knowledge Organisers and through staff moderation meetings, where books are scrutinised at the end of each topic block to ensure they reflect a sound understanding of the key identified knowledge.  Pupils are also interviewed at the end of topic blocks to discuss their learning (Pupil voice). Progress and attainment is measured across the academic year through the use of Classroom Monitor which is used to inform teachers’ and leaders’ of school improvements or skills that need to be further enhanced.