Geography

INTENT

At Kingstone Primary School, we are GEOGRAPHERS! We want our children to love geography! We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be cartographers, town planners, conservationists or weather forecasters. Our aim is that, a high quality geography education should inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.  Through the teaching of Geography at Kingstone, we provide a purposeful platform for exploring, appreciating and understanding the world in which we live and how it has evolved. We want to ensure that through Geography, pupils are able to explore the relationship between the Earth and its people through the study of place, space and environment. In Geography, pupils in our school will learn the skills of understanding locational knowledge; how and where people fit into its overall structure. We also intend for children to become passionate and knowledgeable about our local community and beyond, by learning through experiences in practical and fieldwork activities.

 

IMPLEMENTATION

  • At Kingstone, Geography or History  is taught each half a term  for at least an hour per week.  The subject is explicitly taught in years 1 to 6 and units are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each topic in depth.

  • Pupils accumulate knowledge as they progress.  In EYFS moving onto KS1 children start with ‘themselves’ and their school or local area before working out to areas or regions of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. For example, in Year 1’s local area study, children learn basic geographical concepts, knowledge, vocabulary and skills through the concrete experience of a familiar place. This then allows them to make meaningful comparisons with the Zambian locality of Mugumareno Village in Year 2. During Key Stage 2, this knowledge of places feeds into regional studies from the Americas, Europe and the UK. Knowledge becomes both broader and deeper as pupils progress and become familiar with an ever-wider range of places. This growing knowledge is also fed by the development of locational knowledge, geographical skills and a growing understanding of human and physical processes. At Key Stage 2, we have not considered it necessary that places in each year should be more distant than in the previous one. Rather, we have taken the view that a growing understanding of varied places and processes around the world should inform a conceptually rich understanding of life in the UK and Europe.

  • Location knowledge, fieldwork and map work are woven throughout the Geography topics.  Effective use of educational visits, local fieldwork and visitors are planned, to enrich and enhance the pupil’s learning experiences within the Geography curriculum.  In-depth fieldwork opportunities are greatly amplified through out bespoke local area units where children go out into the field to conduct observations, surveys, investigations and field sketches.  The use of maps and compasses enhances this experience.  
  • At the start of each unit children will review previous learning and will have the opportunity to share what they already know about a current topic.  In order to support children in their ability to know more and remember more, there are regular opportunities to review the learning that has taken place in previous units as well as previous lessons.
  • From Year 2 Children are given a knowledge organiser at the start of each unit which details some key information, key questions and vocabulary. This is not used as part of an assessment, but to support children with their acquisition of knowledge and are used as a reference document.  These are also share on Seesaw.
  • To support teaching, staff access a range of resources and planning including access to Oddizzi.  Effective staff training  and  opportunities to discuss what is being taught and why are built into staff meetings to ensure high levels of confidence and knowledge are maintained..
  • In geography lessons, children are given clear learning goals with different elements of independence planned.  Effective modelling by teachers ensures that children are able to achieve their learning intention, with misconceptions addressed within it.  Through using a range of assessment tools, differentiation is facilitated by teachers, to ensure that each pupil can access the Geography curriculum.
  • Teachers use highly effective Assessment for Learning at different points in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed.  Pupils are regularly given the opportunity for Self or Peer Assessment, which will then be used to inform planning, preparation, differentiation and address misconceptions within that lesson, or for the next lesson. 

 

Impact 

The impact of this geography curriculum design, will lead to outstanding progress over time across key stages relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills. Children will therefore be expected to leave Kingstone reaching at least age-related expectations for Geography. Our Geography curriculum will also lead pupils to be enthusiastic Geography learners, evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice and their work.  Upon leaving Kingstone Primary School to transition to Key Stage 3 learning, children will be equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to confidently continue their geography learning journey.                                                                   

The document below outlines the Geography that will be taught in each year group, each half term.

Geography Planning Overview