Geography
INTENT
Geography at St Edward’s is essentially about understanding the world, the people and the place, where we live. We provide a high-quality geography education that inspires pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical processes.
Our geography curriculum contains progressive knowledge and skills and is in line with the national curriculum. It allows children to explore social, environmental, economic and political aspects of places, whilst comparing local and global settings. Pupils are given the opportunity to develop a sense of enquiry which encourages them to question and make suggestions about people, places and events as well as their place in our world.
We want to inspire a curiosity and fascination about the world. We want the children to have a love of geographical learning, gaining knowledge and skills through high quality teaching both inside and outside the classroom. As the future generation responsible for our planet, we want our children to have sense of respect for the world; by being able to experience a full life in mind, body, heart and spirit which will remain with them for life.
IMPLEMENTATION
Geography at St Edward’s is both a stimulating and an enriching subject. Pupils are offered a progressive curriculum, following the National Curriculum, supported by clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. Children will revisit geographical skills and knowledge in order to embed and deepen their understanding.
Geography is an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We therefore aim to give St. Edward’s pupils strong geographical knowledge, good enquiry skills, the ability to use a range of maps, the skills to collect and analyse data and the ability to communicate information in a variety of ways. These skills are transferable to other curriculum areas and can be used to promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Lessons are carefully planned to ensure that all children are well supported in their learning and that opportunities for depth and challenge are planned for. The local area is utilised to help children to achieve desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice. School trips and fieldwork are provided to give first hand experiences, which enhance children’s understanding of the world beyond their locality.
IMPACT
The impact of the broad and balanced Geography curriculum is that our learners will be equipped with the geographical knowledge and skills that will enable them to be ready for the secondary curriculum and for life as an adult in the wider world. Children will have acquired key knowledge relating to each of the national curriculum strands as well as the development and application of key skills and geographical vocabulary.
Assessment of children’s learning is ongoing throughout each lesson. This is used to inform differentiation, support and challenge. The Geography subject leader also monitors books, planning and teaching to ensure it is consistent and in line with policy and to gain a good understanding of the subject throughout the school.
Our Geography Curriculum helps achieve our vision of Life in all its fullness by:
o Mind- Through having a high- quality and challenging subject, children will explore a wide range of physical and human geographical skills, in order to broaden and ignite a deepened curiosity for their local and global community, where they can investigate and confidently answer their own questions.
o Heart – Through our values of respect, friendship, reverence & responsibility our children will explore how their actions impact their local and global community. They will also understand and choose to be accountable global citizens as they learn and connect with the world around them.
o Body – Through the awareness of the world around them, our children will learn the importance of looking after our world and what impact this has not only on them, but on global scale.
o Spirit- Our children will develop a sense of awe and wonder as their curiosities are awakened, through the exploration of diverse cultures and varied nationalities. They will also understand that God who created the world wants us to be responsible stewards of his creation.
Curriculum Mapping
Our content areas are delivered through different topics, across each academic year. Our curriculum is progressive and the learning in each unit builds on what children have learnt before:
You can click on each topic to see the knowledge organiser for that topic, which shows, in more detail, the content that is covered.
The underlying skills, which are taught through our Geography units, can be seen here.
Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term | |
Year 1 | Weather and Seasons | United Kingdom | Our Local Area |
Year 2 | Continents and Oceans | Hot and Cold Places | |
Year 3 | North America | South America and Rio | |
Year 4 | Rivers | ||
Year 5 | Volcanos and earthquakes | European Region | |
Year 6 | Our Local Area |
The objectives covered in each unit can be found here:
Geography Medium Term Plan- Year 1
Geography Medium Term Plan- Year 2
Geography Medium Term Plan- Year 3
Geography Medium Term Plan- Year 4
Geography Medium Term Plan- Year 5
Geography Medium Term Plan- Year 6