Curriculum intent

The intention in our study of Geography is to bring the four filters of our school’s core curriculum to life:

• DELIVERING ENGAGING AND MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES - We engage children in their education and help them to be responsible for their successes and achievements both academically and socially

Teachers ensure there is a clear hook and outcome for each area of Geography studied. We believe children should be active in their learning and we therefore ensure a range of teaching strategies to develop and embed conceptual understanding. We plan interactive and engaging lessons, which maximise opportunities for children to learn in real life contexts.

• APPLYING SKILLS IN PRACTICAL AND PURPOSEFUL CONTEXTS - Children will have the ability to relate their study to the environment they live in and the experiences they enjoy

We encourage the children to analyse and compare locations, considering human and physical features as well as how places can be inter-dependent and interconnected. We plan exciting school visits to provide children with experiences that develop their understanding of our local surroundings and provide broad opportunities that complement and build on those within the school setting.

• PROMOTING A LEARNING CULTURE - The children will feel empowered to learn independently, and will become unafraid of challenge or initial failure

Children learn to have a desire to embrace challenging activities, and to learn independently, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a wide range of geography topics.

• MAKING MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS - The children will build a developed sense of awareness and connectivity with the wider world.

Through the knowledge they acquire, children feel empowered as global citizens who have responsibility for the world and the environment they live in.

Implementation                                       

Geography is taught throughout the year as half-termly topics.  Teachers plan from the National Curriculum objectives, alongside the Hampshire Geographical progression of skills.

Each class has a long-term plan which outlines the learning journeys to be covered referring to the units in the National Curriculum. This is a progressive cyclical learning approach where learning is revisited over the course of each Key Stage, deepening their understanding each time.

Each learning journey is central to the teaching and this is made evident to the children. This is explored through an enquiry question which forms the basis of study throughout the half term. This incorporates all the skills they will be learning within the unit, enabling children to understand how one lesson builds on another within the journey.

By presenting our learning in this way and allowing children the opportunity to deepen their understanding by focussing on Geography for an entire half term, children have opportunities to follow their own lines of enquiry, investigate and compare a range of countries and locations, develop a better understanding of their place within their immediate locality as well as their role as a global citizen. We make use of the local area to achieve the desired outcomes, with extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom, both in the school grounds and in the wider community.

Impact

By the time children leave West Tytherley Primary School in year 6, they will be equipped with:

• An excellent knowledge and understanding of the world, both human and physical aspects, as well as their own sense of place, using key geographical vocabulary.

• Capable of identifying pattern from a range of sources and compare and contrast different places/areas, giving reasons for their observations using prior knowledge to make connections.

• A developing sense of curiosity about the world and how and why people and places are different or have changed.

• The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate events in the news linked to their learning by formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry. 

Progression of skills

We aim to ensure appropriate coverage of knowledge and skills throughout the year groups. We embrace progressive, cyclical learning to deepen the children’s understanding each time.

From a review of our Geography curriculum, we have mapped out how children can revisit and build on prior learning to develop their skills and understanding. Topics are chosen based on their relevance to the children and their locality. These then lead into our Golden Threads, which are continuously revisited across school activities.