Geography at Summerbank

Our Curriculum Intent

Geography helps to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, provoking and providing the answers to questions about the natural and human aspects in the world. Geography is about people, places and issues both locally and globally and children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world and their place in it. It is an aspect of the curriculum where historical, geographical and social perspectives work together to help children not only understand that the present is shaped by the past but also that we all have a responsibility to live more sustainable lives to preserve our world in the future.  Through our integrated approach we aim to provide Geography teaching and learning that is an enjoyable, creative and stimulating experience for pupils. Geography by nature is an investigative subject and our aim is that teachers and children work together as a collaboration, listening, responding and forming discussions together to explore and investigate geographically, developing an understanding of the concepts, knowledge and skills within geography.

The curriculum is designed to ensure that teaching equips 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 through the school, their growing knowledge about the world helps 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 and skills are progressive and are sequenced to provide the framework and approaches that provide explanation of how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives, equipping them well for further education and beyond. Children develop through the curriculum to have a passion for geography and an independent ethos that provides them with the desire and skills to continue to develop geographically beyond Summerbank.

By teaching Geography, we aim to ensure pupils:

• Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences.
• Become proficient in mapping, having confidence to draw, understand and follow maps
• Can evaluate and analyse physical processes within the world
• Have a strong locational understanding of the world including continents, oceans, seas, countries, capital cities, key cities, landmarks, mountains and rivers
• Know and understand the human geography across the globe and its impact in the world
• Enjoy an active involvement in geography.
• Have the confidence, skills, knowledge and independence to communicate their ideas through their range of geographic work
• Have opportunities to experience a broad and balanced range of geographic activities and show progression within these.
• Are given equal access to the experience of geography, regardless of their gender, race or disability.

Mapping of Content

We use the National Curriculum as the basis of our planning, defining the four concepts and content that we engage the children with (Geography Skills and fieldwork, Human and physical geography, place and location). We select meaningful contexts to ensure the learning progresses and expands over time. The curriculum where possible links and is applied within the locality and local studies with each year group progressively building on the next to make connections and build the ‘sticky knowledge’ the children have.

A Bespoke Curriculum for Summerbank

To support children in knowing more and remembering more, the geography curriculum draws upon a number of our Curriculum Drivers.

Making Connections to the maths curriculum through co ordinates, directions and position.

Use of Story to where possible provide a context to secure and develop the knowledge of the children, providing the children with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the curriculum.

Communication, Language & Vocabulary – Vocabulary is a key aspect of the geography curriculum, teachers know and understand the vocabulary requirements needed within their own year groups as well as the vocabulary the children already understand and this is used to build the understanding. Vocabulary is explicitly taught and given a range of contexts in application to secure a in depth understanding of the language and how to communicate and use it.

Knowledge of the World is supported through educational visits  which are used to apply learning in the real world. Children have access to forest schools which furthers this exploration in a regular basis.