Geography

Curriculum Intent

The study of geography involves our pupils exploring the relationship and interactions between people and the environments in which they live and the wider world. Many of the pupils who now attend our school will live to see the next century and inhabit a world of 11 billion people. The many opportunities and challenges that will arise during their lifetime will be very much about geography at personal, national and global scales. What we intend pupils to learn in geography reflects this throughout our curriculum. We follow the learning challenge curriculum so that we ensure that we have full coverage of the NC. It provides the right balance between using history and geography as the main drivers but ensuring a creative and expressive representation. Each set of learning challenges then links directly to the history or geography knowledge, skills and understanding to ensure that learning is progressive and continuous. In particular we have established a school curriculum that entitles all pupils to become aspirational, logical and inclusive.

Implementation

We have adopted an enquiry based approach to teaching and learning in geography which develops our pupils as young geographers. Through enquiry our pupils not only build subject knowledge and understanding but become increasingly skilled at critical thinking, specialised vocabulary and their grasp of subject concepts. We structure learning in geography through big questions that lead to enquiries about relevant geographical topics, places and themes. Our curriculum is therefore ‘knowledge rich’ rather than content heavy as we recognise that if we attempt to teach geographical topics, places, themes and issues in their entirety we restrict opportunities for pupils to master and apply critical thinking skills and achieve more challenging subject outcomes. We have developed the use of topic afternoons which allow immersive learning that provides sufficient time and space for our pupils not only to acquire new knowledge and subject vocabulary but also to develop subject concepts and understand the significance of what they have learned.

Our teaching and learning in geography is interactive and as practical as possible, allowing opportunities for pupils to work independently, in pairs and also in groups of various sizes both inside and outside of the classroom. Learning activities are varied including the use of mysteries, maps at different scales, photographs and drama. Similarly we provide varied and differentiated ways for pupils to record the outcomes of their work including the use of PowerPoint, concept mapping, annotated diagrams, improvised drama and the application of a wide range of writing genres. Only in this way will knowledge become embedded and ensure that our pupils can build on what they know and understand from one year to the next.