Geography
Here at St. Joseph’s, we aim to provide a high-quality geography education which will inspire pupil’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, hopefully remaining with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching will equip pupils with 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. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
Geography is taught through timetabled specific lessons on a half termly basis, alternating with History.
Implementation
We follow the National Curriculum for Geography. It is taught in key stage 1 and 2 as part of a half-termly topic, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. Teachers plan their Geography lessons with reference to the school’s Progression of Knowledge and Skills document. This document ensures the curriculum is covered in a comprehensive way and that the skills and knowledge that are taught are progressive from one phase to the next.
In Early Years Foundation Stage pupils learn about our world through a combination of child initiated and adult directed activities. Pupils are taught to comment and ask questions about aspects of their familiar world, such as the place where they live or the natural world. They are also encouraged to talk about some of the things they have observed, such as plants, animals, natural and found objects.
Across school, children are given access to a range of resources to develop learning through atlases, digital technology, books and photographs.
Through our Geography curriculum children have opportunities to investigate and interpret a range of geographical locations in Britain and across the wider world. We encourage children to become Geographers through collecting, analysing and communicating their findings. Where possible we ensure cross curricular links with maths and literacy. Geography provides excellent opportunities to support all learning abilities through investigations, outdoor learning and analysing data.
Impact
Our Geography Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. Outcomes in topic books evidence a broad and balanced geography curriculum.
In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
• Reflecting on standards achieved against the planned outcomes
• Children retaining knowledge that is pertinent to Geography
• Children’s enjoyment of Geography lessons and keenness to find out more about our world;
• Evidence of work showing a range of topics covered, cross curriculum links and differentiated work
• High standards in Geography that match standards in other subjects such as English and Maths
• SLT are kept informed through feedback from moderations, subject reports and annual subject action plans