Geography Overview
Vision
We want our geography curriculum to promote a curiosity about the world for our children. The curriculum will enable our learners to be confident to understand and ask questions about the world around them. We endeavour for Geography to be learned inside and outside of the classroom.
Learning will be developed from the three core strands which are: Geographical Skills linked to fieldwork, Places and Location Knowledge and the Understanding of Human and Physical Geography. Learners will ‘think like a geographer’.
When developing our geography curriculum we wanted to focus on embedding a skills based curriculum that would develop skills in a wide range of geographical contexts. We were acutely aware that our children needed to develop their understanding of human and physical geographical features through fieldwork whilst also ensuring they had a secure knowledge of places and location knowledge.
Geography at Greasbrough
In foundation stage, Geography is taught through the curriculum area ‘Understanding the World,’ which also links in other subjects including science and history. Children are encouraged to experience the world around them and to investigate plants and animals they may see in their outdoor areas. They also have the opportunity to draw these observations, label them, create houses for them and also create models of them. Children are exposed to the beginnings of map work in foundation stage and are encouraged to look at what they see closely in order to draw it accurately.
In Key Stage 1, the local area around Greasbrough is looked into in more detail to help the children to understand the world around them. Fieldwork is arranged in which children learn to draw and interpret maps in order to complete fieldwork effectively. Other sources of geographical information are used including world maps, atlases, globes, aerial photographs and ICT equipment. The children will also learn about the weather patterns in the United Kingdom and hot and cold areas of the world.
In Key Stage 2 there is an opportunity to build on previous skills by focussing on three main areas:
- Locational knowledge
- Place knowledge
- Human and physical geography
Locational knowledge equips the children with the skills to identify places using different sources of geographical information. Children will use maps and skills will be developed in order to locate the countries of the United Kingdom and their capitals.
Geographical similarities and differences are examined under the place knowledge section of the curriculum by comparing the geography of a region of the United Kingdom with a region in a European country and with a region in either North or South America.
The children will observe the human and physical features of their local community and also that of one further afield. They will understand key aspects of geography and begin to examine the human impact on the environment.
Resources
All children have access to a wide variety of geographical resources. Children have access to compasses, class sets of atlases, globes and other resources that will support children’s learning. Most of these resources will be referred to and used in sessions to develop a secure understanding of the resources needed to support children’s geographical skills.
Field trips
Children regularly take part in a geographical field trip and this will link to the teacher’s big question and topic the children are learning about. We have planned out these field trips carefully to ensure that children can use their newly acquired skills in a variety of contexts. Children have planned routes using OS maps, took part in traffic surveys, conducted public questionnaires or compared to contrasting environments whilst looking at human and physical features. These field trips are a key driver in our geography curriculum and help embed the skills children have developed.
Country of the week
In each KS1/2 class we focus on one country that week. Children are given specific facts about the country and are encouraged to learn more about its capital city, largest river, famous landmarks and the continent it’s in. This focus will help enhance children’s places and location knowledge