Geography
"It is he who sits above the circle of the Earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in" Isaiah 40:22
Geography is a subject that is filled with excitement and curiosity. It allows children to gain a better understanding of the world, people, places and environments. It also helps children to understand how and why places are changing and predict what the future may hold.
Our Intent
Our aim at Rowsley C of E Primary School is to inspire children’s curiosity, interest and appreciation for the world that we live in. We intend to equip children with geographical skills to develop their knowledge through studying places, people and natural and human environments. As geographers, pupils are exposed to a rich and balanced curriculum that provides them with new vocabulary and knowledge. As pupils progress through school, they will develop an insight into the links between physical and human processes and how landscapes and environments have changed and continue to change. As the national curriculum states, ‘teaching should 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.’
Implementation
Our curriculum is intended to give children in-depth knowledge which they can keep building on each year. Teachers understand the key knowledge and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression throughout 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 through discussion our 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. We are incredibly fortunate to have a vast amount of outdoor space, including the Forest School, to allow children to be hands-on with the environment.
Impact
Our geography curriculum offers high quality and well-planned lessons which encourage progression. Geographical questioning helps pupils to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of the world and its people. Alongside learning challenge questions, through offering a wide range of terminology, we are able to use this new knowledge to help with our assessment of topic understanding and also help us identify areas in which we need to encourage deeper learning. In order to ensure our aims have been met, we scrutinise topics through:
- Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
- Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
- Moderation where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
- Sharing good practice in staff meetings.
Please look at our progression map to find out more about how we build and develop skills and knowledge through the National Curriculum's areas of study. If you have any questions, please contact me: c.lindley@peaktorfederation.co.uk.
Links to useful websites:
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Why is Geography important? David Attenborough will tell you why...
Geography at Rowsley C of E Primary School
Map Work Progression
Human Geography Progression
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Physical Geography Progression
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Talk Like A Geographer Programme
Following training with Derbyshire Children's Services and Lady Manners High School the Y5/6s completed the Talk Like a Geographer programme, The objective was to develop a common approach to disciplinary literacy in Geography so Year 5-8 pupils improve their ability to write like geographers, with a focus on the skills of comparison/ contrast.
Linda Scott from LMS Geography Department was very impressed with their work and assessed what she saw - they were already reaching some of the Y7 end of term goals. She emailed after her visit to say, "All the groups I spoke with had a confident and clear understanding of the concepts you had been discussing. They all shared their work with pride and I was very impressed with the quality of their written work and their presentation. They are a credit to Rowsley Primary."