Geography

‘……you can travel the seas, poles and deserts and see nothing. To really understand the world, you need to get under the skin of the people and places. In other words, learn about geography. I can’t imagine a subject more relevant in schools. We’d all be lost without it.’

Michael Palin

 Intent:

At Ladypool Primary School, we want all of our children to be geographers. Our aim is for our bespoke curriculum to inspire children to ‘develop curiosity and fascination about the world they live in and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives’. We also want them to understand how their local area has evolved and be proud of the community in which they live. Through discovery, enquiry and exploration we want to instill a love of the subject not only locally but regionally and internationally. Through the context of places, namely small areas and regions, the children will begin to gain an understanding of other environments and, over Key Stage One and Two, they will not only acquire knowledge but develop a bank of skills that will allow them to conduct fieldwork, collect data, analyse evidence and draw informed conclusions about a range of places around the world.

Studying the locational and place knowledge of  a number of real places, the children will develop an understanding of differing human and physical features and fieldwork techniques that they will be able to take with them on their journey to Key Stage Three.  We hope to awaken an appreciation of the natural world so as responsible global citizens, they will develop a sense of identity and belonging with a caring attitude towards our planet. Our curriculum has been devised with the expertise of consultants from B and C Educational to ensure all of the National Curriculum objectives have been covered. 

Implementation:

• At Ladypool Primary School, geography is taught in every year group, half termly.
• Units allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each of the small areas or regions in depth.
• At Key Stage One, our geography curriculum is designed so that children begin with My School, its Grounds and their Surrounding Environment whilst also studying a small area of the UK namely The Isles of Scilly and a small area of a contrasting non-European country namely Serrekunda, The Gambia, West Africa.
• At Key Stage Two, we have selected units that meet the needs and interests of our children and have designed the curriculum we wish to deliver, whilst being NC compliant.
•  Although the units are taught discretely, we have designed it so that there may be some transferable knowledge to or from subjects like reading and writing.
• Each unit covers similar investigation skills and knowledge  so that characteristics in  different places can be compared. 
• Locational knowledge is repeated and revisited, for example every unit begins with locating the place to be studied on a map (and the oceans and continents are always seen as the starting point).
• Map work is an integral part of each unit.
• Our progression documents for each, show how pupils build on and develop their knowledge and skills year on year. It documents the substantive content, the recurring themes and language (the ultimate role of the content), and the subject rationale( the proximal role - the later content it is preparing for) and also the disciplinary training associated with the subject.
• In order to support children in their ability to know more and remember more, there are regular opportunities to review the learning. 
• Knowledge organisers 
• Each unit of work has a knowledge organiser which details key information and vocabulary. This is not used as part of an assessment, but to support children with their acquisition of knowledge and is used as a reference document for all teaching staff.
• Knowledge Walls answer enquiry questions and work as visual aids help to create a rich learning environment for each unit.

Impact:

• To support teaching and learning, there is a wide range of  relevant resources for staff to readily access. 
• Effective use of educational visits are encouraged, not as ‘days out’ but as focused skills and knowledge development.  Visitors are planned to enrich and enhance the pupils’ learning experiences.  
• Misconceptions are addressed. 
• Adaptation of lessons is facilitated by teachers, to ensure that each pupil can access the curriculum.
• Children are given clear success criteria in order to achieve the Learning Intention with different elements of independence.
• Cross-curricular links are planned to deepen learning.

EYFS:

• The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum supports children’s understanding of geography, people and communities through the planning and teaching of ‘Understanding the World’. 
• Six units, written in the same way as the Key Stage One and Two units, allow for a smooth transition.
• The New EYFS Framework 2021 and Development Matters have been used to draw out the specific Geography (and History elements). Children learn about features of their own environment such as school, home, special places, significant people and the past and present and family life.  Through first-hand experiences they will learn how environments may differ through the sharing of books, stories, poems, small world play, role play and visits. Children enjoy the valuable experiences gained from our regular trips to places within our local community such as churches, mosques, museums, library, parks and local shops. Children are given time to discuss, comment and ask questions about what they observe about the world around them and are encouraged to be active learners and explore their interests further.

Geography Curriculum Map 22-23