Intent
At Tutshill Primary School, we value Geography as an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Geography provides the children with the opportunities to develop and extend skills, and a chance to foster a sense of Global Awareness. Through Geography, learners are given the chance to express their individual thoughts and ideas and demonstrate our school vision of love one another, know ourselves, believe and grow.
We offer a structure of lessons to help teachers ensure they have covered the content required to meet the aims of the national curriculum. The content allows for a broader, deeper understanding of the four areas of geography identified in the curriculum: locational knowledge; place knowledge; human and physical geography; and geographical skills and fieldwork. It will develop contextual knowledge of the local area, the location of globally significant places and understanding of the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, along with how they bring about variation and change over time. In Geography, children can carefully consider contrasting places across the world, where everyday life experiences are very different to their own. Beyond that, we understand the importance of giving our children the opportunity to understand issues that are prevalent in society – both in Britain and the wider world, building on their knowledge of British Values.
Through Geography, we use our core Christian Values of forgiveness, compassion, responsibility, respect, perseverance, courage and creativity to teach children how to respect and value the lives and ideas of others locally and globally. Children are encouraged to use their learning behaviours to take responsibility for creatively and innovatively applying geographical skills and knowledge, whilst showing resilience and perseverance to overcome personal challenges.
Through the structure of the ABCDE learning model and our focus on Learning Behaviours, Geography will support the children in developing curiosity and a fascination of the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We intend to improve children’s geographical vocabulary, map skills and geographical facts and provide opportunities for consolidation, challenge and variety to ensure interest and progress in the subject. Geography is differentiated through our understanding of meta-cognition as an awareness of an individual’s own thought processes and ability to reflect on the way that they think and learn. All children are encouraged to reflect on the work they have produced and evaluate their understanding.
Implementation
The teaching and implementation of the Geography Curriculum at Tutshill C of E Primary School is based on the National Curriculum and follows the Kapow scheme for Years 1 to 6. It is designed with the key concepts in Geography as a basis: place; space; scale; interdependence; physical and human processes; environmental impact and sustainable development; cultural awareness and diversity. The children are taught Geography for the equivalent of half of each long term, alternating with history for equal coverage of the two subjects over the year.
When learning Geography at Tutshill, skills and knowledge are built up progressively and units of learning across each phase are sequential. Formal elements are woven through the units and key concepts are revisited again with increasing complexity and depth in a spiral curriculum model, to allow pupils to revise and build on previous learning.
Lessons follow the ABCDE teaching and learning model, and where possible contain elements of fieldwork or practical skills, taking learning outside when opportunities arise. Geography is taught in an inclusive way with adaptations being used as appropriate to ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required.
Impact
Children will have clear enjoyment and confidence in Geography that they will then be able to apply to other areas of the curriculum.
Children will ultimately know more, remember more and understand more about Geography, demonstrating this knowledge when talking about their own work and in their recorded work.
Geography subject assessments are completed three times a year, with teachers identifying those children working below, at and beyond expectations. Areas of strength and areas that pose challenge for individuals are highlighted. Teachers use this information to inform future lessons and to support children’s progress in learning, ensuring children are supported and challenged appropriately.
Children in Foundation Stage are assessed within the relevant sections of Understanding the World; People, Culture and Communities; and The Natural World. Their progress is tracked termly using the Tapestry and Insight tracking system. Age related expectation levels are reported to parents at the end of the reception year.