Geography Curriculum

Intent

We intend to provide a broad geography curriculum which aims to teach skills and deepen children’s understanding of geography and the world they live in. We aim to inspire children to enquire and develop an interest in their local area, where it is located geographically alongside the rest of the UK and the rest of the world, as well as fostering a desire to care for our area and the wider world from an ecological perspective. We hope children will be proud of Maidenhead and develop an understanding of the features in it, along with its connections to the wider world together with its similarities and differences.

We believe it is important to use observational skills to first study the geography of our school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of the surrounding environment in Maidenhead and north Berkshire, to understand our part in preserving the environment for future generations and then to extend investigations to a national and international level. By starting on the area that children already know, they can gain a solid knowledge of the geographical and environmental features in an area before building their understanding to study similar or different features in unfamiliar areas. Ultimately, our intention is that All Saints will be seen, over time, as the leading Eco-School in the area: a source of strong geographical teaching and environmental awareness.

Implementation

Geography is taught through cross-curricular termly topics, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum.

Planning

Class Teachers should plan to extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as the wider world. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features and associated environment. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge together with an appreciation of what sustains and threatens local, national and international environments.

Teaching

Through Quality First Teaching, pupils will be be taught locational knowledge, place knowledge and human and physical geography, but this knowledge will extend beyond their local area to include the UK, Europe and the wider world, including discussing the Equator and Tropics. Pupils' geographical skills and fieldwork knowledge will extend to them being taught digital/computer mapping, eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, use of Ordnance Survey maps, using sketch maps, plans, graphs, and digital technologies to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical geography of an area.

Learning

Children will learn a range of skills including those detailed above and basic geographical vocabulary and geographical skills, including outdoor learning and fieldwork.

Assessment

Pupils will be assessed formatively, based on the work they produce and conversations had with teachers. As part of the formative assessment, pupils will complete KWL (What I know, What I Want to know, What I have learnt) Grids as part of each Geography topic that they cover. In the first lesson they will fill in what they know and what they want to know including any questions that they have about the topic. In the final lesson they will fill in what they have learnt and have an opportunity to go back and answer any questions they came up with. Teachers will assess if pupils are working below expected, at the expected level or working at greater depth against the Geography national curriculum objectives.

Impact

We believe that a high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world that will remain with them for the rest of their lives, for them to understand and appreciate the features of world they live on, the ecological environments it sustains and the issues facing it. We believe that if our geography curriculum is taught, then pupils will be equipped with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. We believe that pupils will be equipped with life-long skills including map reading, OS symbols, grid references and compass points. These skills will help pupils as they go exploring in the great wide world as the global citizens we hope they will become. We believe that, in this ever changing world, pupils should be taught about key debate topics such as pollution and the environment. Only by every person working together can we aim to achieve zero carbon emissions thereby making our own contribution to reducing global warming. Therefore it is vital that every pupil is taught how to protect the environment and to have an ecological understanding of what can be done to minimise the negative impact of human activity on the environment. Our vision is to be Loving All Our Neighbours and, to do so, it falls on us to protect and preserve the world for us and for many more future generations to come.

The delivery of the geography curriculum is monitored by the Geography Subject Leader, who reports appropriately to Senior Leaders and Governors.