Geography Curriculum Statement

Geographers at All Saints' learn about people and places!

Intent-our aspirations for children as geographers at All Saints'!

As with all subjects taught at All Saints', our school vision and school values are at the heart of our geography curriculum.

The 2014 National Curriculum for Geography aims to ensure that all children:

• 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 All Saints’, we believe that Geography helps to provoke and answer questions about the natural and human world, encouraging children to develop a greater understanding of their world and their place and responsibilities within it. Geography helps children to develop a range of investigation and problem-solving skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can be used to promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills and feeds a child’s natural curiosity. We seek to inspire in children curiosity and fascination about the world in which they live, and its people, which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote children’s interest and understanding about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. We aim to ensure children are aware of topical geographical issues, the importance of sustainability and human action upon our world and armed with this knowledge debate and make decisions about how they chose to live. Children are engaged in fieldwork opportunities which support them in developing hands on experiences of the world in which they live.

Implementation

Emphasis is placed on investigative learning opportunities to help children gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of each unit of work covered throughout the school. We make great use of the outdoors in delivering our geography curriculum. Each lesson begins with, and revisits, important vocabulary that children need to have an understanding of to be secure in their geographical understanding. We make links to work in history, English, DT, PSHE, maths and science when delivering our geography curriculum. Visits to places within and beyond the locality are used to develop children's understanding of the world in which they live. We would love to visit some of the 'far away' places we study through our geography curriculum but have to explore these places using online research and atlases!

Through the framework of the 2014 National Curriculum, geography taught at All Saints’ School, aims to ensure that all children:

• develop age-appropriate, accurate knowledge of the location, physical and human characteristics of a wide range of globally significant places including terrestrial and marine locations
• use this knowledge to provide a geographical context to study and understand the actions of important geographical processes
• understand that these processes give rise to the key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about variation and change to the geographical landscape
• are able to use geographical vocabulary which is appropriate and accurate and which develops and progresses from EYFS to KS1 and throughout KS2
• collect, analyse and present a range of data, gathered through experiences of fieldwork, to deepen understanding of geographical processes
• use and interpret a wide range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes and aerial photographs
• develop skills in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) (software and interactive resources) which allow for digital mapping, analysis of data and data models
• are able to communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length
• to promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development helping them to have a greater understanding of their place in the world, and their rights and responsibilities to other people and the environment

Impact
Through the geography curriculum delivered at All Saints', we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by providing investigative and enquiry based learning opportunities. We aim for our children to develop a greater understanding of their immediate locality as well as an understanding that we live in one small part of the world we have been given, a world which is very diverse in terms of both people and places. Children will leave our school with an understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and how this affects landscapes and environments. It is our aim that the geography curriculum taught at All Saints’ equips children with key knowledge and skills, as set out in the National Curriculum, but also with a sense of awareness of themselves as people within a wide world and the impact that they, as people, can have upon the world in which they live.