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Geography

Intent

‘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’ (Michael Palin). Our Geography North Star is to inspire all pupils with a genuine interest in Geography, a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Our teaching will build on pupils’ prior knowledge of the world, United Kingdom and the local area of Bushey so they can understand more about the world they live in. Our Geography curriculum will equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, natural and human environments throughout the world and help develop understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes. Through high-quality teaching, children will have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary. Our curriculum will develop children’s geographical and fieldwork skills so that they are able to reach clear conclusions and explain their findings using a range of paper and digital resources.

Implementation

At Ashfield, Geography is taught as a discreet subject and lessons are planned with a clear progression across each year group.   Key skills and knowledge have been broken down and allocated across different year groups to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum.  Our Geography curriculum builds on what children have learnt at our local infant feeder school.  It has been carefully planned to ensure that children have a sound knowledge of where they live in relation to the U.K., Europe and the rest of the world.  Each year group will have three units of work with opportunities for mapping skills during the year.

There is a clear progression of learning in each year group.  Children in Year 3 will begin the year by learning more about the U.K. with a particular focus on mountains before learning about Europe and having a more detailed focus on France.  France has been chosen as we teach French at Ashfield and have links with schools in France.  In Year 4, children will start to learn more about where countries are located in the world.  They will recap their knowledge on Europe before learning about the water cycle, volcanoes and earthquakes.  Learning in Year 5 is further afield, and children will focus on North America.  Children will learn about rivers and coasts before learning about transport and trade.   In Year 6, children will learn about biomes and vegetations belts. They will learn about South America and carry out a comparison between a South American country and the U.K.

Our Geography lessons will include:

  • A progression of geography knowledge
  • A clear sequence of learning for each unit
  • Specific geographical vocabulary for units of work and year group
  • Exposure to regions and countries across the world
  • Develop geography skills and fieldwork (e.g., use map skills, compass, sketch maps, measuring and recording data)
  • Provide opportunities to reflect and build on prior learning
  • Challenged to think about how the world is changing and consider the impact of climate change
  • Make links with other subjects in the curriculum
  • Differentiated activities or support (e.g., word maps, enlarged maps, iPad and technology etc) for children with SEND

Impact

  • Children talk passionately about their learning in Geography and show curiosity learning about the world
  • Children demonstrate new knowledge and skills
  • Children use and apply a range of geographical vocabulary
  • Children understand a variety of locations, landmarks and key geographical features
  • Children use their geographical knowledge to understand how it impacts our lives
  • Children ask questions about the world and have the skills to find out the answers
  • Children talk and produce work that demonstrates their understanding of the unit of work

Our children will be successful and engaged in lessons because:

  • Teachers use assessment for learning to inform planning to address misconceptions and gaps in learning
  • Teachers build on a progression of skills and knowledge from the previous year
  • Teachers make links and connections with prior learning in Geography and in other curriculum subjects
  • Teachers scaffold activities, model geographical vocabulary and follow a sequence of learning so that all children can make progress