Geography

INTENT

Our Geography curriculum promotes a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with our learners for the rest of their lives. It equips pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, natural and human environments, combined with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Throughout their journey at St Nics, our learners will develop a contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places, including their physical and human characteristics.
 

IMPLEMENTATION

We use Cornerstones Curriculum Maestro to carefully map our provision to ensure that each project builds on prior knowledge and understanding alongside developing key skills such as an ability to interrogate sources, ask valuable questions, conduct research in an effective, efficient way. We use ‘Mantle of the Expert’ where possible to capture children’s imagination and make learning meaningful and exciting by allowing them to explore imaginary scenarios to develop higher level thinking skills.

As pupils progress through school, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the framework that explains how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
This geographical knowledge alongside a developing sense of their role as a global citizen enables them to understand wider global issues by the time they reach the end of Keystage 2. Beyond the classroom, we use our school grounds and trips to allow for rich, meaningful experiences that cement knowledge and engagement. Debates are also used to explore the impact of an event or geographical phenomenon from a range of perspectives.

IMPACT

Our Geography curriculum has been developed to enable children to develop a rich cultural capital, which will provide a foundation for future lifelong learning. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes using the Cornerstones assessments, pupil discussions about their learning, which includes discussion of their thoughts and the impact our students make on local and global issues. As geographers, the children develop practical skills they can use beyond school and into adulthood, alongside a firm foundation of knowledge on which to build upon.