Intent
At Wolsingham Primary School our Geography curriculum is designed to inspire our children and nurture a long lasting curiosity and fascination of the world and its people. Children will investigate places all over the world and develop their knowledge and understanding of Earth’s physical and human processes. Our units have been carefully planned to equip our children with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. They will explore how the features of the Earth are shaped, interconnected and change over time for a variety of reasons.
The Geography curriculum develops the priorities for pupils at Wolsingham Primary School in the following ways:
Basic skills – The Geography curriculum encourages children to develop their reading skills through the use of a range of Geographical sources, allowing them to learn about the world around them through independent reading. Writing skills are developed in written explanations and in communicating geographical information about places, processes and people. Mathematical skills are developed through collecting and analysing data from fieldwork experiences and through working with various types of maps, understanding symbols and learning how to navigate.
Resilience and Perseverance – Children are encouraged to build up their understanding of geography and take an interest in the wider world. Educational visits and fieldwork opportunities provide children with the experience of asking questions, solving problems and finding answers whilst visiting new and familiar places.
Social Awareness – One of our curriculum priorities is for our children to “be curious about the world in which they live” and Geography is a crucial part of achieving this. Our geography curriculum is designed to expose children to the world in carefully planned units which revisit and build upon prior learning. Children will develop their knowledge and understanding of places, processes and people and how these impact humans and the physical world. Following this they can gain empathy and understanding of geographical differences in the world and global issues such as climate change.
Knowledge – Children are expected to develop their understanding and knowledge through the use of carefully scaffolded questions and sources of information which, by Upper Key Stage 2, allows children to then be able to develop their own lines of enquiry and suggest solutions to a problem. Our units of work allow children to learn about local regional, national and international geography as well as allowing time for each area to be revisited in each Key Stage so prior learning can be revised and built upon.
Implementation
- Children cover 3 Geography units a year, one each term.
- Lessons are 1 hour per week, for each week of the half term, allowing time for a unit to be covered fully.
- Units of work have been carefully planned to ensure that skills and knowledge are taught in age-appropriate order, revising and building upon existing knowledge. Beginning with children’s immediate environment and the local area in EYFS before looking at the UK then the continents and other areas of the world before the end of Year 6.
- These units allow children to gain substantive knowledge of Geography such as location, population, climate, land use and resources, wealth and tourism, physical and human features of places and how places change.
- Other units covered in each year group promote field work studies and local visits allowing our children to gain disciplinary knowledge of Geography which involves “working like a Geographer” by using maps, communicating information, using photographs and gathering and analysing field work.
Impact
As children progress through the Geography curriculum at Wolsingham Primary School they will:
- Increase their knowledge, understanding and first-hand experience of their local area and how this is linked to the rest of the UK and wider world.
- Develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
- Understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
- Be competent in the geographical skills needed to:
collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
- Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- Communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
Geography in the Early Years
A geographer in the early years will have a sense of their own immediate family and community, learning through experiences offered with local community support. In play they will imitate everyday actions from their cultural background, understanding that they have similarities and differences. They will comment and ask questions about aspects of their familiar world e.g. the place they live. Children will observe seasonal changes in their local environment through walks and journeys into the local area. They will become familiar with local landmarks and begin to compare these with landmarks with human and physical features in other places and/or countries. Children in the early years spend a lot of time exploring their local community, feeling a sense of belonging, and understanding the make-up of their community. They will draw maps and follow treasure maps. A lot of learning in the early years takes place through purposeful play, both indoors and outdoors. Towards the end of Reception children will be learning skills to equip them for their future learning and later success in Year 1.