We want every pupil to be curious about the world around them.
The world is a curious and fascinating place and we aim to inspire that curiosity and fascination in our children. We live in a world where new places are at the click of a button and this enables children to explore the world in a way that has never been possible before. Through these experiences our children are able to consider why space and place is different around the world. In our experience, allowing children to explore the world through Google Arts and Culture and tools such as Geoguessr has only increased their interest and desire to learn more about the world.
As a school we recognise that geography teaching is cross-curricular and we identify those opportunities, for example through; the location of a story setting, where historical events happen in the world, and habitats of animals. Each classroom has a world and UK map and we use these to mark the places we have encountered across the curriculum.
Children start their journey as a geographer in EYFS where they learn about the relationships between different places, objects and living things. They are encouraged to talk about features of their own environment and how they vary. Progression in their higher level thinking skills continues in each year group where we take an enquiry approach to learning. Each unit of work allows time for the direct teaching of knowledge (substantive knowledge) as well as learning how geographers come to an understanding about the world (disciplinary knowledge). As such, we use a progressive set of enquiry skills that mirrors the approach used in history. For example, children in KS1 might be observing and sequencing and in later years they will be evaluating methods or hypothesising.
The local area around our school offers a bounty of inspiration to excite their minds as geographers and make their learning relevant. We make the most of this by using local case studies as the back bone of enquires where possible. These are linked to other environments and communities from across the world so that pupils gain both local and global knowledge. We believe strongly in building a sense of community for our pupils. As such, geographical fieldwork in the local area is undertaken across year groups where they have the opportunity to study such things as the quality of the local environment and how it can be improved.
We believe our children will:
- Be excited by geography and therefore encouraging them to undertake new life experiences now and in the future.
- Confidently use maps to locate and describe features of a location and answer questions such as:
- Where is this place?
- What is it like? (And why?)
- How and why is it changing?
- How does this place compare with other places?
- How and why are places connected?
- Develop the geographical knowledge, skills and vocabulary to help them explore, navigate and understand the world around them and their place in it.
- Develop excellent fieldwork skills.
- Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current issues in society and the environment.
- Be prepared to become competent geographers in secondary education and for life as an adult in the wider world.
