Geography

Intent

At St Philip’s Catholic Primary School, through our Geography curriculum, we aim to expand geographical vocabulary, increase our children’s knowledge and curiosity of the wider world and promote high aspirations.

We seek to create a life-long love of Geography, through teaching our children about diverse places, people and resources.

Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with explicit subject specific language they need to describe, question and discuss the world. We shape our Geography curriculum to ensure it is fully inclusive for every child.  At St Philip’s Curriculum, we teach a high quality Geography curriculum which fulfils the requirements of the National Curriculum for Geography. We teach the geographical concepts, knowledge and skills through a progressive approach. 

Through the study of natural and human environments, as well as physical and human processes, our desire is to provide our children with a sense of awe and wonder about the world they live in.

As they continue on their journey of Geography, we aim to foster a deep understanding of the subject that develops alongside their geographical skills.

Our aim is that our children go on to apply these skills across all subjects, as well as in their futures beyond St Philip’s Catholic Primary School.

Our pupils are encouraged to recognise that they have a voice and to use it confidently to debate topics that they feel passionate about, for example, deforestation or renewable energy. We aim to produce well- rounded individuals by providing our children with opportunities to expand their cultural capital and experiences of the world.

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in geography, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Geography is taught explicitly throughout the year, with each year learning about places of the world in a progressive approach. We explicitly teach the knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum, taking great care to take advantage of the rich geography in our local area, to build upon existing knowledge and understanding. This develops a ‘web’ of understanding, ensuring the children know, and remember more.

At St Philip’s Catholic Primary School, we ensure that geography has a high profile in school and that learning is checked through pupil conversations and book looks, to ensure curriculum coverage, alongside learning walks and check ins in lessons.

Based upon the National Curriculum and the individual needs of our children, we have created a Geography progression map, which sets out the objectives taught in each year group, each led by an enquire question.

Each individual lesson has content that is differentiated between, and within, year groups so that learning is age-appropriate and high expectations are maintained. Children use learning journeys to record learning in a way that is memorable to them at the end of each unit or lesson.

We use writing in Geography as an opportunity for children to showcase what they have learned and embed their knowledge. Maps are displayed throughout the school and teachers are encouraged to reference these when appropriate during all lessons to help to develop an awareness of the globe Our whole school oracy focus underpins our vocabulary-rich Geography curriculum. Teachers use questioning, and provide opportunities for discussion and investigation to support the development of vocabulary, which is explicitly taught and modelled by teachers in every lesson. Key geographical knowledge and language (such as, the name and location of continents, countries, capital cities and oceans) is revisited frequently, to make learning memorable, relevant and easy to retrieve. We support learning with trips to inspire our children and widen their cultural experiences. For instance, our Year 3/4 rainforest learning involves a visit to ‘The Living Rainforest’ and KS1 have the opportunity to visit a coastal town in order to compare it to their local area. Teachers are also encouraged to use a range of resources such as videos, photographs and newspaper articles during lessons to help create immersive learning experiences.

Impact

Based upon the National Curriculum and the individual needs of our children, we have created a Geography progression map, which sets out the objectives taught in each year group. Geography is taught as part of our two-year cycle for each age phase. We alternate our Geography and History topics ensuring that our children receive a well-rounded teaching of the humanities subjects throughout the year. At times, we take the opportunity to create links between the two subjects to help solidify the learning taking place. Each individual lesson has content that is differentiated between, and within, year groups so that learning is age-appropriate and high expectations are maintained. Children use learning journeys to record learning in a way that is memorable to them at the end of each unit or lesson. We use writing in Geography as an opportunity for children to showcase what they have learned and embed their knowledge. Maps are displayed throughout the school and teachers are encouraged to reference these when appropriate during all lessons to help to develop an awareness of the globe Our whole school oracy focus underpins our vocabulary-rich Geography curriculum. Teachers use questioning, and provide opportunities for discussion and investigation to support the development of vocabulary, which is explicitly taught and modelled by teachers in every lesson. Key geographical knowledge and language (such as, the name and location of continents, countries, capital cities and oceans) is revisited frequently, to make learning memorable, relevant and easy to retrieve. We support learning with trips to inspire our children and widen their cultural experiences. For instance, our Year 3/4 rainforest learning involves a visit to ‘The Living Rainforest’ and KS1 have the opportunity to visit a coastal town in order to compare it to their local area. Teachers are also encouraged to use a range of resources such as videos, photographs and newspaper articles during lessons to help create immersive learning experiences.