Geography - Subject Lead: Mrs Lucy Snare
Intent Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it in the way we do?
At St Marks, the study of geography involves our pupils exploring the relationship and interactions between people and the environments in which they live. We strive to equip our children with the skills that they will need to face the environmental challenges ahead, at a personal, national and global level.
We have established a school curriculum plan for geography, through the Primary Connected Geography Collins Scheme. It is:
- Aspirational, in terms of instilling in our pupils a desire to achieve the highest levels of success and providing them with the opportunities to excel, in terms of their acquisition of knowledge and understanding of geographical skills.
- Logical, relevant, broad and balanced in terms of the areas of subject content and in line with the National Curriculum.
- Sequenced to ensure that pupils can build on previous knowledge and understanding, starting from the provision established in Early Years.
- Progressively more challenging, both in terms of the complexity of the subject knowledge and also their critical thinking skills.
Geography Curriculum Overview
The Geography curriculum map has been designed in line with the National Curriculum guidance. We adopt an enquiry focused approach to learning and teaching in geography. Through enquiry our pupils not only build subject knowledge and understanding, but become increasingly adept at critical thinking and specialised vocabulary. We structure learning in geography through big question led enquiries about relevant geographical topics, places and themes. Our learning and teaching in geography is interactive and practical, allowing opportunities for pupils to work independently, in pairs and also in groups of various sizes both inside and outside of the classroom.
We are very fortunate to be able to offer our children the chance to visit Rhos y Gwaliau in Wales during both Year 5 and Year 6. During this residential, they are able to consolidate geographical knowledge, with opportunities to use the mapreading skills and to see for themselves physical geographical features such as mountains and the sources of rivers. They also have the opportunity to explore aspects of human geography, such as the impact of slate mining on the environment and the local population.
Progression of Knowledge, Skills and Vocabulary
In conjunction with the whole school overview, we use a whole school skills progression map to ensure the clear progression of geographical knowledge, skills and vocabulary across the school.
Assessment
Teachers use a range of assessment techniques to monitor progress and to build a clear holistic picture of children's geographical knowledge and understanding. Progress is reported to parents and to subsequent class teachers. Examples of activities used to form these assessments are:
- Observing the pupil during discussions, fieldwork and practical activities
- Low stakes quizzes to test and consolidate prior knoweldge
- Written tasks
Impact of our Geography curriculum
By the time children leave St Marks they:
- Make good progress so that they securely meet the expectations laid out in the national curriculum.
- Have a passion for environmental issues and belief that they can make a positive difference to their world.
- Be equipped to not only answer, but also to ask, challenging and relevant questions.
