Intent

At St Robert Southwell Catholic Primary school, we seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives.  Geography is invaluable in pupil development, both academically and socially. Through Geography, children learn about the world they live in, their place in it and the issues we face, both socially and environmentally.  Our school community is diverse and our Geography curriculum reflects this. It is essential that the children in our school are offered the opportunity to have a wide-range of experiences and access to a wide and inclusive range of knowledge, in order for them to develop into well-rounded and diverse learners.

Geography is essentially about understanding the world we live in. It helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. At St Robert Southwell, children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. The Geography curriculum enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas. Geography is an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of key concepts, knowledge and skills. At St Robert Southwell our intent, when teaching geography, is to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and people within it; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

Implementation

We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. It is important that children develop the skills of a geographer by fully immersing them in all areas of the subject.  Opportunities for learning outside the classroom are embedded in practice. School trips and fieldwork are provided to give first hand experiences, which enhance children’s understanding of the world beyond their locality. Lessons are adapted and tailored to our children, allow learning to be clear and immersive with classroom environments, exercise books and floor books used as active teaching tools to ensure all children can engage with topics.

The EYFS framework is structured very differently to the National Curriculum as it is organised across seven areas of learning rather than subject areas. The most relevant early years outcomes for geography are taken from the area of learning most suited: Understanding of the World (UW).  In EYFS, children begin to develop their geographical knowledge by exploring features of our school.  Children have rich opportunities to make use of school grounds to enhance and apply their skills as geographers.  Children in Reception read a book called Emma-Jane’s aeroplane and learn about different countries, their landmarks and animals native to that country.  The children in EYFS learn about seasonal changes in the UK and about the importance of looking after our world.

SEND and Inclusion

As in all areas of the curriculum, teachers should deliver ‘quality first’ teaching and differentiate to support children with barriers to learning.  On an individual basis, teachers should consider limitations that a child has in accessing the planned lesson and provide resources, word banks with visual clues, stem sentences, adapted tasks and adult support.

With more able and ‘Greater depth’ pupils, the use of open-ended questions should be used to promote deeper thinking and encourage pupils to use prior learning to formulate ideas.

Assessment

Feedback can be marked on the work or given verbally.

Children should create a concept map at the start of the unit to recall any previous learning. At the end of the unit, the pupils will add to their map to demonstrate their learning.

Observations, book scans, learning walks and pupil interviews will be used to support and develop consistency and good practice across the school every term.

Impact

By the time children leave St Robert Southwell Catholic Primary School they will:

• Have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• Have an excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
• Have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Be fluent in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
• Have the ability to reach clear conclusions and develop a reasoned argument to explain findings.
• Have significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations and representations of the subject matter.
• Have highly developed geographical skills and techniques.

• Have a passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there.
• Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.