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Geography

Intent

Our Geography curriculum is designed to equip pupils with the knowledge and understanding about diverse places, people and resources within natural and human environments. Pupils will develop their geographical skills in order to carry out effective geographical enquiries. At Eastbury, our Geography curriculum is designed to inspire pupil’s curiosity about the world around us and what we can learn from it. Pupils will gain clear knowledge and understanding of the world we live in.

We base our Geography Curriculum around an enquiry-based approach. We teach Geography through an enquiry-based approach. Geographical enquiry allows our children to question, interpret, explain and communicate their reasoning as a geographer. Each Geography unit is launched with a ‘big enquiry question’ – a question where the answer is unknown at the beginning of the unit, but one that the children will be able to answer by the end. Our curriculum ensures that pupils can recall key facts and information, whilst also developing their geography enquiry skills. This is achieved through the analysis and interpretation of a range of information sources, along with continual questioning opportunities.

Geography objectives are met in Early Years through a cross-curricular, immersive approach to ‘Understand our World’.

ELG: People, Culture and Communities

Children at the expected level of development will:

Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps.
Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps.

ELG: The Natural World Children

at the expected level of development will:

Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants.
Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.

Implementation

Our Geography lessons are based on big questions which are focused on throughout the year. Geography is taught discretely using our bespoke curriculum which has been mapped by the Geography leads in the primary and secondary phase.

Our Geography curriculum is taught explicitly from Year 1 through to Year 6, with topics organised chronologically from Year 3 onwards. Topics in Years 1 and 2 provide a basis for contrasting one focus area between two different periods in time. History objectives are met in Early Years through a cross-curricular, immersive approach to ‘Understand our World’.

Each lesson begins with a child led enquiry to support them to lead the learning.
Key vocabulary is identified for each unit taught and is presented to the pupils in the form of ‘target words’. These are explicitly taught during the learning sequence, and teachers and pupils continually assess the understanding of these.
Complementing our chronologically progressive curriculum, geography skills are consolidated and built upon through each unit and year group.
Our Geography long-term plan supports teachers in planning each learning sequence, which states progressive knowledge and skills to ensure a full coverage.
Work is adapted to meet the needs of all pupils in each Geography lesson.
Classroom working walls reflect the learning journey of the class, highlighting key knowledge, skill development and target vocabulary.
At the end of a unit, post-learning assessments provide an opportunity for pupils to demonstrate what they have learnt across their given topic and reflect upon and consolidate their learning. These also provide formative assessment for future spaced learning.

Impact

As our Year 6 pupils transition to year 7, we aspire that they will have developed a geographical mind of inquiry. Pupils will also have a strong understanding of geography skills.

Our children are able to critically reflect on our and explain how it effects their lives. The children can compare their lives with others from around the world. They can critically assess their impact on our world and suggest how it can be improved. They are active learners who are engaged and challenged.

"He argued that learning was an active rather than a passive process where children learn by doing and by interacting, and that tasks should as far as possible be challenging and be related to the pupils’ real-life experiences. One of Dewey’s fundamental ideas is that children and their interests should be the starting point for learning. Because of this, enquiries should be extensions of what the pupils already know, building on and making connections with prior learning. The skilful teacher ensures that this takes place, capitalising on what the children bring to their work."

How is the curriculum sequenced?

At Eastbury, our Geography Curriculum is sequenced from the National Curriculum. Where possible, we aim to create links with other curriculum areas. We have created a skills progression document which goes hand in hand with the long term planning. This ensures skills are being taught and developed at the correct times.

How are you building on prior knowledge and skills?

The Geography Curriculum is mapped out carefully to help develop children’s knowledge and skills throughout their journey at Eastbury. We ensure previous knowledge is highlighted within the knowledge organisers and these are shared with children and parents. We have created a skills progression document which goes hand in hand with the long term planning. This ensures skills are being taught and developed at the correct times and being built upon.

How are we implementing the recovery curriculum?

Following the school closures due to Covid-19, our priority is for children to feel safe and secure as they return to school. Our recovery curriculum focuses on looking at key concepts from the National Curriculum. From this, the Geography Curriculum has been carefully sequenced to ensure we focus on any key skills that have been missed to close gaps in our children’s learning. We're ensuring we are equipping the children with key vocabulary and facts before the lesson.

Eastbury Community School

Geography

Long Term Planning

Medium Term Planning

Autumn Knowledge Organisers

Spring Knowledge Organisers

Summer Knowledge Organisers

Geography Skills Progression

Evidence of practice

Policy