Geography

Intent

At Ashmead school we want our geographers to be curious and fascinated about the diverse world around them. Pupils will engage in learning that enables them to appreciate the relevance of people’s attitudes, values and beliefs so they are role models for the future and global citizens. It is essential that our pupils develop an understanding of location and place, including the position of Aylesbury within Britain and the wider world, developing a deep knowledge of both physical and human geography. Developing their fieldwork and enquiry skills provides pupils with the knowledge of ‘how to do geography’, while encouraging them to ask questions, critically evaluate and debate the impact of geographical processes. This deepens their understanding about the world around us and how this knowledge is gained.

Implementation

Our curriculum is organized into a progression model, with the long-term overview identifying the skills, types of knowledge, concepts and vocabulary to be taught in a sequentially coherent way. Our progression documents consider continuity, and the rationale and impact of prior and future learning.

In Early Years, geography learning begins in ‘Understanding the World’ where pupils start to make sense of their local surroundings, community and the wider world. By engaging with a broad selection of fiction and non-fiction texts, rhymes and poems, pupils learn and understand concepts such as past and present, and talk about similarities and differences between people around them and their role in society.  Pupils are provided with opportunities to develop their vocabulary to support learning within the area of study and beyond.

In KS1 and KS2 we operate on a 2-year cycle which builds upon the foundations taught and learnt in EYFS. Pupils in KS1, learn the component location knowledge of their local area and the UK, such as the names of the countries, capital cities and key human and physical features, drawing some comparisons with non-European countries. Within KS2, pupils build on this knowledge by exploring, and revisiting, regions of Europe and the Americas to learn key concepts and skills from different perspectives. This allows invaluable comparisons to be made between the UK and other areas of the world.

Our curriculum overview:

(A more detailed version of this table can be found in the links below.)

Our geography curriculum is taught following our whole school long term plan which identifies locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography and geographical skills and fieldwork from EYFS to Year 6.

Disciplinary knowledge enables and encourages our pupils to think geographically about comparing and contrasting places, locations, physical and human features, processes, patterns, relationships, connections, environmental challenges, cause, effect and consequences, as well as reasoning and explaining change.

Key concepts are revisited and progressively built upon. The work of David Lambert, Peter Jackson and Clifford et al (2008) identify key concepts to support teachers in developing planning and tasks for pupils. We have selected the following concepts:

• Scale: Pupils understand that there are many different scales including personal, local, regional, national and global. Scale influences the way we represent what we see or experience. It is the ‘zoom lens’ that enables us to view places from global to local levels.
• Space: Every place has a particular location and a unique set of physical and human characteristics. These include what a place is like, how it became like this and how it is subject to forces for change. It is the location of points, features or regions in absolute and /or relative terms and the relationships, flows and patterns that connect and / or define them.
• Place: A construct that is defined in terms of what it is like, what happens there and how and why it is changing.
• Physical and human geography: geographical enquiries utilise physical and human processes that cause change and development in places, when seeking explanations for patterns and distributions. Pupils make progress by deepening and broadening their understanding of such processes and in so doing enhance their capacity to envision alternative futures for places, and the people who live and work in them.
• Interdependence: It is about people, places or countries who support and need each other.
• Cultural diversity: There is a common thread throughout the curriculum of understanding that different people have different perspectives and opinions on their views of the world. Pupils are encouraged to appreciate and embrace the diverse curriculum and Pupils’ own experiences are highly encouraged.
• Environment and sustainability: Pupils start to explore the concept of sustainability through understanding the importance of protecting the environment. Pupils are encouraged to evaluate their own impact on the environment and begin to understand what they could do to make an impact.

Key questions have been designed to support geographical enquiry and reflect the focused key concepts. Questions aim to focus teachers planning and pupils’ responses on how geographers learn and communicate knowledge about the world around them.

Planning, teaching and learning is supported by experiences and visits. For example, pupils are given opportunities to enquire and research at a local level to provide first hand experiences of how geographers develop their knowledge of the world. This is then expanded to other places or communities that hold significant links or learning opportunities for our pupils. Tier three subject specific vocabulary is taught and assessment opportunities ensure pupils can talk like a geographer. Relevant texts, artefacts and geographical sources are utilised.

Once key knowledge and skills have been learnt, our curriculum enables pupils to draw upon the importance of cross curriculum learning, e.g. historical differences, scientific phenomena or religious beliefs, when studying geography. Again, this supports pupils to connect materials into broader frameworks and narratives.

Impact

Our geographers will be confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in geography using subject specific vocabulary. Pupil voice will demonstrate that pupils enjoy geography and are able to recall their learning over time. Pupils work demonstrates that geography is taught at an age appropriate standard across each year group with opportunities planned in for pupils of all backgrounds, abilities and dispositions. Work is of good quality and demonstrates pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary in an appropriate sequence.