An overview of Geography at St Mary’s

Intention:

Geography is 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. The intention of the Geography Curriculum at St Mary’s Primary School is to inspire children’s curiosity and interest to explore the world that we live in and its people. It is designed to ensure that teaching equips pupils with geographical skills and knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes Through our teaching, we intend to provoke thought, questions and to encourage children to discover answers to their own questions through exploration and research to enable them to gain a greater understanding and knowledge of the world and their place in it. 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, equipping them well for further education and beyond.

Implementation:

Geography is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children achieve depth in their learning. Objectives are from the National Curriculum and are taught through the Lancashire Scheme of work. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group across the school. Cross curricular outcomes in Geography are planned for, with links between the Geography curriculum and English lessons enabling further contextual learning. The local area is also fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes.

Consideration is given to how greater depth will be taught, learnt, and demonstrated within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in line with the school’s policy on inclusion. Outcomes of work will be monitored to ensure that they reflect a sound understanding of the key identified knowledge.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) follows the ‘Development Matters 2020’ guidance which aims for all children in reception to have an ‘Understanding of the World’ by the end of the academic year by learning about:

Past and present
People, Culture and Communities
The natural world

Impact

Outcomes in Geography books evidence a broad and balanced geography curriculum and demonstrate the 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. As children progress throughout the school, they develop a deep knowledge, understanding an appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context. Through explicit teaching of Geographical vocabulary related to each topic and sequenced/ spiral learning, children are enabled to remember and do more. Utilising the local resources, with the school being ideally located to the town centre of Loughborough and a variety to trips, to enhance learning.