Geography
Intent
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 Bookwell Primary School, 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 transferrable to other curriculum areas. Geography is an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. At Bookwell, 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 and to embed a deep understanding of the earth’s key physical and human processes.
Implementation
Our curriculum is shaped by our curriculum priorities which are aspiration, initiative and environment. We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression and a curriculum designed to meet the needs of our learners in our own locality of West Cumbria and to ensure they have a wider, global outlook. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. We have chosen to use learning modules from CUSP (Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership) as a key resource. These modules support our belief in a clear sequence of teaching with assessment embedded within and the use of strategies that support knowledge retention. It is important that children develop the skills of a geographer by fully immersing them in all areas of the subject. West Cumbria is fully utilised to achieve desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice. Local studies are embedded into planning from EYFS to KS2. School trips and fieldwork are provided to give first hand experiences, which enhance children’s understanding of the world beyond their locality.
Impact
Outcomes in geography books, evidence a broad and balanced geography curriculum and demonstrate children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge relating to each of the identified national curriculum strands, as appropriate to key stage; locational knowledge, place knowledge and human and physical geography. This is in addition to the development and application of key skills, supported by fieldwork.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Tracking of subject quiz scores
- Marking of written work in books
- Reporting and tracking of standards across the curriculum
- Pupil discussions and interviewing the pupils about their learning
- Images and video evidence of the pupils’ practical learning
- Book looks where pupil books are scrutinised and discussed
- Governor monitoring with our subject geography link governor
- Dedicated geography leadership time
When our pupils finish their journey at Bookwell, they will have developed the geographical knowledge and skills to help them explore, navigate and understand the world around them and their place in it.
EYFS - Understanding the World
The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum supports children’s understanding of geography, people and communities through the planning and teaching of ‘Understanding the World’. Children learn about features of their own environment such as school, home, community and their local area through first-hand experiences and 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 trips to places within their local community such as the library, church, farm 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.