Geography/ Understanding the World -Becoming Geographers!

Please press the link below to see our Geography Progression Map. 

Purpose of Study:

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 frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

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

• develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – 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. 

Intent

At Dunchurch, our Geography curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and a fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Children investigate a range of places – both in Britain and abroad – to help develop their knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes. We are committed to providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area so that they can develop of real sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special. We also developing the children’s ability to apply geographical skills to enable them to confidently communicate their findings and geographical understanding to a range of audiences. Through high quality teaching, we develop the following essential characteristics of geographers:

• An excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like, both in Britain and the wider world;
• A comprehensive understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected;
• An extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary;
• Fluency in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills, as well as effective presentation techniques;
• The ability to reach clear conclusions and explain their findings;
• Excellent fieldwork skills as well as other geographical aptitudes and techniques;
• The ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current issues in society and the environment; A genuine interest in the subject and a real sense of curiosity about the world and the people who live here.
• We aim to provide all pupils with a firm foundation of their place in the world and how they fit into the wider picture, acknowledging that our school community reflects a wider geographical context.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Geography, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Geography is generally taught as the lead focus for a termly topic, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to apply their geographical skills in all areas of the curriculum, seeing themselves as a part of a progressively wider, interconnected and more complex world, both physical and human. Teachers plan lessons for their class using our progression of knowledge and skills documents. The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group.

Impact            

Our Geography Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. At Dunchurch, we measure the impact through regular assessment opportunities, discussions with the children and through evidencing the skills and knowledge within the children’s written learning