Geography
Intent
At Parklee Community School Geography education should be fully inclusive to every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Geography; providing a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum; ensuring the progressive development of geographical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to develop a love for geography. We aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. (The 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England) Geography teaching at Parklee has a wide application to everyday life, teaching the children to enjoy learning about the world and to have a better understanding of how people live in different locations. A geographer needs: *Thorough investigative and research skills *Good communication skills *An interest in human behaviour, culture and society *An enquiring mind
Implementation
Geography at Parklee is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in their learning. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each blocked topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group across the school. At the beginning of each topic, children are able to convey what they know already as well as what they would like to find out. This informs the programme of study and also ensures that lessons are relevant and take account of children’s different starting points. Geography is taught throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 once a week for 1-2 hours following the unit overviews. The units contain between 10-12 key questions that the children explore each work. The teacher plans lessons that allow children to develop the historical skills set out in the progression of skills documents. During KS1 we aspire for our pupils to develop a deep knowledge about the country they live in and their locality. They then will gain an amazing understanding of basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills independently. This will enhance their locational and place knowledge. During KS2 the pupil’s will be able to extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area. This will include the United Kingdom as a whole and then various countries around the world. They will learn the location of these continents and be able to describe characteristics to a ‘high’ standard of the physical and human features. The pupil will also develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge. At Parklee, Geography is planned and delivered at a very high standard and we set very high expectations for the students in the lesson. We expect the work in their books to be at the same standard as their English books. Teachers consistently identify gaps and reiterate children by reviewing the previous lesson and instilling new vocabulary.
Impact
The Geography curriculum will make a profound and positive impact on the outcomes of every pupil. The structure enables us to return to core knowledge and skills throughout the course, embedding key practises and understanding. Core knowledge in each unit is supported by a knowledge organiser which details the key learning points, vocabulary and key questions. It is our expectation that the knowledge on our organiser is known by all. We endeavour to create strong and appropriate links with other subjects to enhance the curriculum and learning experience. As children progress throughout the school, they develop a deep knowledge, understanding an appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context. Each child’s understanding will be assessed regularly, and Verbal Feedback will be given in the lesson. Deeper Thinking tasks and purple pen questions will allow the teacher to assess the students understanding. Book checks will be carried out regularly to check that the impact of the teaching is shown in the responses that they students give. Each lesson teachers re-cap previously taught knowledge in the form of quizzes and recap activities, which supports pupils to retain the knowledge that has been taught.
The intended impact of the Geography Curriculum is that the majority of children in each year group are working at or above the expected level for their age and this is recorded using the school assessment tracking system INSIGHT.
