Geography Curriculum at XII Apostles
Geography - Subject Leader: Mrs Parry and Curriculum Team 1
Mission Statement
To place Christ at the centre of everything we do.
To recognise that each child is unique and to ensure that each child is educated to fulfil their human potential.
To develop an understanding of community; being able to recognise, respect and celebrate the diversity of all within it.
Our school’s Mission Statement provides us with values, beliefs and relationships and is the basis for everything we do, underpinning the purpose of all our work in Twelve Apostles.
Intent
The national curriculum outlines the following aims for Geography in schools:
- 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.
At Twelve Apostles, our aim is for children to develop a sound understanding of the world in which we live. We want children to explore, appreciate and understand how the world has evolved. Geography explores the relationship between the world and its people through the study of place and environment. Through Geography, children acquire knowledge of a range of different cultures and traditions, which helps them to learn tolerance and understanding of other people and environments. In this way, Geography contributes to children’s cultural, social, spiritual and moral development.
We are committed to developing children’s curiosity about local, national and international localities by broadening their knowledge of people, places and environments across the world. Our curriculum is driven through the following geographical concepts (Investigating places; Investigating patterns and Communicating geographically) which are explored in a wide breadth of topics. Our curriculum is arranged so that pupils return to these same concepts repeatedly, gradually building an understanding of them. Our Long-term plan details how pupils will be given opportunities to relate topics to previously studied topics to deepen understanding.
Implementation
Geography teaching focuses on enabling children to think as geographers. Our principal aim is to develop the children’s children’s substantive and disciplinary in Geography and we use a variety of teaching and learning styles throughout Geography lessons. We believe that children learn best when:
- They have access to enquiry-based research activities.
- They go on visits to sites of geographical significance and places of interest.
- They have access to a variety of data such as maps, statistics, graphs, pictures and aerial photographs.
- They are shown, or use independently, resources from the internet and videos.
- They can use ICT in geography lessons where appropriate, including the production of digital maps. (use of Digi-Maps)
- They are able to use non-fiction books for research.
- They are provided with opportunities to work independently or collaboratively, to ask as well as answer geographical questions.
- They engage in a variety of problem-solving activities.
They are given time to reflect on their own learning by giving them opportunities to create visual prompts enabling them to recall how they learned about this place/environment, thus creating opportunities to identify links and relate places and environments to each other.
We recognise that we have children of differing abilities in Geography and we seek to provide suitable learning opportunities by utilising adaptive teaching methods. We achieve this by:
- Setting open-ended tasks which can have a variety of responses.
- Grouping children by ability and setting different tasks for each ability group.
- Providing resources of different complexity depending on the ability of the child.
- Using Teaching Assistants to support children individually or in groups.
- Organising children in such a way that they receive support from their peers.
In addition to the National Curriculum each year group studies an element of local Geography. Our curriculum reflects the vast geographical changes that have shaped our local area both now and in the past. Children are encouraged to consider the role they play and how they can make positive contributions to the local community. Trips and visitors are organised so that the children can develop a deeper understanding as to how our local area has changed.
Impact
At XII Apostles, we recognise the unique needs of each child and support them in reaching their human potential. We have a supportive ethos and our approaches support the children in developing their collaborative and independent skills, as well as empathy and the need to recognise the achievement of others. The impact of our Geography curriculum is measured in the experiences, confidence and competence of our children within the subject. We ensure children receive the experiences they require, both within and beyond the curriculum, to develop their skills and knowledge and become confident geographers. By revisiting geographical concepts, children will deepen their understanding and be able to identify links between their own immediate environments and places around the world and the interactions between the physical and human environment. These studies will help children to recognise the importance of sustainable development for the future of mankind and how they can contribute towards it. Progress in Geography throughout Twelve Apostles is outstanding. Children typically enter school at below the expected level on the ELG’s within ‘ Understanding of the World’, but the average percentage of children for the past 3 years achieving Secure or above, at the end of Year 6 is 9.
The children have been comparing historical and present-day maps of our local area and are looking for similarities and differences.
The children are practising their map drawing skills.
The children are recording which different types of vehicles pass the school in a Traffic Survey.