Geography
The Geography coordinator, Mrs Tyler, ensures that each year group has specific units of knowledge and skills assigned to them and Geography accounts for approximately 7% of our yearly timetable.
What?
Our main intention is to enable our children to gain knowledge and understanding of places in the world. In doing so, we want to provoke and answer questions about the natural and human worlds, helping the children to use different scales of enquiry to view them from different perspectives. As the children’s knowledge of other cultures increases, so does their respect and understanding of what it means to be a positive citizen in a multi-cultural country. We expect to support children in acquiring graphic skills, including how to use, draw and interpret maps. We intend to enable our children to know and understand environmental problems at a local, regional and global level and want to encourage a commitment to sustainable development and an appreciation of what ‘global citizenship’ means.
How?
The national scheme of work for Geography is used as the basis for curriculum planning. The national scheme is adapted to the local circumstances of this school and in the Early Years children begin this learning journey through the specific area of Understanding of the World. Throughout Years 1 to 6, our school uses the Oddizzi schemes of work, adapted to our local circumstances and needs of our children. Oddizzi is an e-learning resource and community that immerses our children in the real world. Our children can, using this resource, view the world through the eyes of people who are passionate about the places they are sharing as the content builds a solid understanding of the people, places and cultures of the world produced by a community of teachers, travel-writers, geographers and children themselves. It is supports our teaching and learning for geography, global citizenship topic work and to build research skills. Our topics are planned in in order to build on prior learning and children of all abilities have the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in each unit and, through planned progression built into the scheme of work, meeting increased challenge as they move through the school. In addition to this, fieldwork plays an important part of the curriculum and educational visits are also developed throughout the school, which support and enhance geographical learning.
So?
In striving to inspire all our children to think about their own place in the world, their values and their rights and responsibilities to other people and the environment, we deepen our children’s curiosity and enjoyment of working in Geography and the tackling of all activities with confidence and a sense of achievement.