Mission Statement

“Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change.  It is dynamic and relevant.  For me geography is a great adventure with a purpose”

Michael Palin

Intent

A high-quality geography education should 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. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the framework and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Curriculum Aims

The national curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
• understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
• are competent in the geographical skills needed to:

• collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
• interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length

Implementation

Geography is taught across the school from EYFS to year 6.  The National Curriculum sets out topics which should be covered in each key stage. Staff work together to ensure all areas for their key stage are taught; over the two year period within Key Stage 1 and across the 4 year period of Key Stage 2.  The children study geography topics in conjunction with other subjects, especially at Key Stage 1. The areas of teaching are locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, and geographical skills and fieldwork. Children are taught about different regions around the world, including our local area, and consider similarities and differences between them.