Geography Curriculum Statement
St Joseph’s’ Geography Curriculum Statement
‘“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord… “plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE.”’
Jeremiah 29:11
Intent
Why do we teach this?
Geography is essentially about understanding the world we live in. It helps to provoke and
provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. At St Joseph’s
children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as
well as their place in it. Increasingly using their prior knowledge to solve problems and develop
the sophistication of Geography. The geography curriculum enables children to develop
knowledge and skills that are transferrable to other curriculum areas. Geography is an
investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. At St
Joseph’s our intent, when teaching geography, is to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination
about the world and people within it; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of
diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep
understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Opportunities will exist for
children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This will allow them to enrich
their knowledge by: visiting places they may not normally consider places of geographical
interest and conducting geographical surveys within the local area that will contribute to the
curriculum vehicle. Children will understand how Catholic virtues and British Values relate to
Geography.
Implementation
What do we teach? What does this look like?
Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children,
regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to flourish to become the very best version
of themselves they can possibly be.
We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This
ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to
maximise learning for all children. Teachers plan lessons for their class using our progression of
knowledge and skills document. Teachers can use this document to plan their geography
lessons suitable to their class’s interests. High quality teaching responds to the needs of the
children. This is monitored by the geography lead. Geography is generally taught individually
but plays a key role in the achievement of the learning aims of the curriculum vehicle. For
example, a focus on the local housing market may include a visit to the town planning office to
enable pupils to conduct a land-use survey of Uttoxeter and identify areas of need. Through
discussions with a town planner, pupils will understand the process of an application which
could lead to them considering a site for development, conducting local surveys and pitching
their idea to the Borough council.
It is important that children develop the skills of a geographer by fully immersing them in all
areas of the subject. The local area is fully utilised to achieve desired outcomes, with
opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practise. School trips and
fieldwork are provided to give first hand experiences, which enhance children’s understanding
of the world beyond their locality.
Success criteria in every Geography lesson are set in order to guide children to achieve their
potential. This ensures work is demanding and matches the aims of the curriculum. Spiral
learning is a key focus of all formative and summative assessment with teachers actively
marking work in lessons (live marking) in order to identify early misconceptions.
Geography teaching focuses on enabling children to think as geographers. Geography provides
excellent opportunities to enhance the learning of more able pupils through the investigations,
analysing sources and writing extending pieces.
At St Joseph’s, we ensure that geography has the same importance given to it as the core subjects,
as we feel this is important in enabling all children to gain ‘real-life’ experiences.
Cultural Capital
Children will learn about areas of significant geographical interest such as Stone Henge, North
and South Poles and harbours. In addition, they will learn about famous geographers such as
William Morris Davis and the knowledge about physical geography that Sir David Attenborough
has shared through his work.
They will also experience the following during Key Stage 2:
* Fieldwork to a place of local interest such as the Peak District and the National Forest
* Visit to at least one county and city in the UK
* Use of computer software identify places in the world and understand their key
physical and human characteristics.
* Use of GPS systems
* Gain an understanding from a business leader regarding the importance of learning
about geography
* Hear from Economists regarding the key areas in human geography
Impact
What will this look like?
Within geography, we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by
providing investigative and enquiry based learning opportunities. Emphasis is placed on
investigative learning opportunities to help children gain a coherent knowledge of
understanding of each unit of work covered throughout the school.
Our geography curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate
progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary
progression also form part of the units of work. Children will deepen their understanding of the
interaction between physical and human processes and how this affects landscapes and
environments.
By the time children leave St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary school they will:
- Have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
- Have an excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and
interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
- Have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
- Be fluent in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills and
use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
- Have the ability to reach clear conclusions and develop a reasoned argument to explain
findings.
- Have significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations
and representations of the subject matter.
- Be highly developed and frequently utilised fieldwork and other geographical skills and
techniques.
- Have a passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find
out about the world and the people who live there.
- Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and
understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is
taught.
- Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
- Images and videos of the children’s practical learning.
- Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
- Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the
opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
- Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum.
- Marking of written work in books.