GEOGRAPHY
INTENT:
At St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that geography stimulates curiosity and imagination and we aim to build upon the child's ‘personal geography’ by developing geographical skills, understanding and knowledge through studying places and themes.
Geography is a valued part of the curriculum as it provides a means of exploring, appreciating and understanding the world in which we live and how it has evolved. Geography explores the relationship between the earth and its people.
The aims of teaching geography at our school are:
To make sense of their own surroundings through learning about their own locality, and the interaction between people and environment.
To extend their interest, knowledge and understanding of contrasting localities in Britain, Europe and the rest of the world.
To develop knowledge and understanding of the human and physical processes which shape places.
To appreciate similarity and difference in the world about them and to respect other people’s beliefs, attitudes and values.
To develop the geographical skills and vocabulary necessary to carry out effective geographical enquiry.
To formulate appropriate questions, develop research skills and evaluate material to inform opinions.
To develop interest and enjoyment of geographical experiences and build confidence and understanding.
To recognise and understand issues concerning the environment and sustainable development.
IMPLEMENTATION:
At St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School, we provide a high-quality Geography curriculum that has been carefully designed and sequenced to equip our children with a secure, coherent geographical knowledge of their locality, Britain and the wider world. Retrieval practice is at the heart of this, ensuring the prior learning is built on and meaningful connections are made. This starts in EYFS with children learning about their personal geography and developing an understanding of the school grounds and important locations beyond the school gates (such as the local church and library). In Key Stage 1, children explore their local communities and develop an understanding of the physical and human features of hot and cold countries, making comparisons and drawing conclusions. They also develop their map skills and geographical vocabulary by exploring a place outside of Europe. This knowledge is then built on in KS2.
IMPACT:
At St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School, we use both formative and summative assessment information in every geography lesson. Staff use this information to inform their planning and to plan interventions. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able. Our staff use geography formative assessment to systematically assess what the children know as the topic progresses and inform their future planning.
Assessment information is collected at the end of the academic year. In addition to this, a comprehensive monitoring cycle is developed at the beginning of each academic year. This identifies when monitoring is undertaken. Monitoring in geography includes: book scrutinies, environment and learning walks and pupil voice.
All of this information is gathered and reviewed. It is used to inform further curriculum developments and provision is adapted accordingly.
We believe that if children have become knowledgeable geographers, then they will be able to articulate their understanding with confidence. The work produced by our children and the discussions they have, should demonstrate that they are equipped with the geographical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the secondary curriculum and for life as an adult.