Geography

What will take place before teaching in the classroom?

The school’s senior leadership team will:

• Lead the school staff to develop a clear overarching curriculum intent which drives the ongoing development and improvement of all curriculum subjects.
• Ensure that the curriculum leaders have appropriate time to develop their specific curriculum intent through careful research and development.
• Provide sufficient funding to ensure that implementation is high quality.

The curriculum leader will:

• Understand and articulate the expectations of the curriculum to support teaching and support staff in the delivery.
• Ensure an appropriate progression of knowledge is in place which supports pupils in knowing more and remembering more as geographers.
• Ensure an appropriate progression of geography skills and knowledge is in place over time so that pupils are supported to be the best geographers they can be, and challenge teachers to support struggling geographers and extend more competent ones.
• Ensure an appropriate progression for vocabulary is in place for each phase of learning, which builds on prior learning.
• Identify geographers who underpin specific areas of the curriculum and raise aspirations for pupils.
• Keep up to date with current geography research and subject development through an appropriate subject body or professional group.

The class teacher will, with support from the curriculum leader:

• Create a long term plan which ensures appropriate coverage of knowledge, skills and vocabulary from the progression grid.
• Personally pursue support for any particular subject knowledge and skills gaps prior to teaching.
• Ensure that resources are appropriate, of high enough quality and are plentiful so that all pupils have the correct tools and materials.

What will this look like in the classroom?

Our teaching sequence will be:

Geographical Enquiry

• When introducing a new topic in Geography pupils should have the opportunity to ask geographical questions and enquire about their topic of interest based on prior learning knowledge.

Locational Skills

• Identify and locate their place of interest using maps, aerial photographs, the internet and other sources of information.

Vocabulary – human and physical features to be included

• Understand the key vocabulary associated with their topic of interest and understand the meaning of them in a practical/real life context.
• All pupils will access language from their knowledge organisers and knowledge walls within the classroom.

Application-outdoor learning

• Use the outdoors to understand process, map reading skills, directional language, to develop their fieldwork skills based on their learning.

Apply their knowledge from their topic to the world around them locally and globally.

• What could/should the world be like in the future?
• What can we do to influence change?
• These connections can be made across other subject areas (history/PSHE/science).

Our classrooms will:

• Provide appropriate quality equipment for each area of the curriculum.
• Have developed learning walls which include high quality WAGOLLs, including actual pieces of work and known geographers, and carefully chosen vocabulary, which are regularly updated.
• Be organised so that pupils can work in small groups or whole class as appropriate to support pupils in their development of their skills.
• Deploy appropriately challenging selections of texts, both non-fiction and fiction, accessible throughout learning to develop wider understanding and underpin reading skills.

Our children will be:

• Engaged because they are challenged by the curriculum which they are provided with.
• Resilient learners who overcome barriers and understand their own strengths and areas for development.
• Able to critique their own work as a geographer because they know how to be successful.
• Safe and happy in geography lessons which give them opportunities to explore their own creative development.
• Encouraged and nurtured to overcome any barriers to their learning or self-confidence because feedback is positive and focuses geographical skills and knowledge.
• Develop geographical skills and confidence over time because of careful planning, focused delivery and time to practice and hone skills.

How will this be measured?

Pupil Voice will show:

• A developed understanding of the methods and skills of geographers at an age appropriate level.
• A secure understanding of the key techniques and methods for each key area of the curriculum: field work, place and location knowledge, and human and physical knowledge.
• A progression of understanding, with appropriate vocabulary which supports and extends understanding.
• Confidence in discussing geography, their own work and identifying their own strengths and areas for development.

Displays around school and books will show:

• Pupils have had opportunities for practice and refinement of skills.
• A varied and engaging curriculum which develops a range of geographical skills.
• Developed and final pieces of work which showcase the skills learned.
• Clear progression of skills in line with expectations set out in the progression grids.
• That pupils, over time, develop a range of skills and techniques across all of the areas of the geographical curriculum.

The curriculum leader will:

• Celebrate the successes of pupils through planned displays.
• Collate appropriate evidence over time which evidences that pupils know more and remember more.
• Monitor the standards in the subject to ensure the outcomes are at expected levels.
• Provide ongoing CPD support based on the outcomes of subject monitoring to ensure that the impact of the curriculum is wide reaching and positive.