LHPS Geography Curriculum Design

Guiding Principles

We want our children to Appreciate, Aspire and Achieve. We are committed to providing a Geography Curriculum designed to deliver the necessary knowledge and skills to develop a deep understanding of places on a local, national and international scale. We want our children to grasp a deeper understanding of the processes that give rise to human and physical geographical features of the world, developing an interconnection between places, people, resources and natural and human environments.   This enables them to recognise their responsibility as a member of the global society in caring for the world in which we live and to be inspired to find a range of solutions to the environmental issues and protect the planet earth.           

Core Beliefs

Appreciate

Aspire

Achieve

A Geography Curriculum that develops every child’s ability to appreciate, care, respect and understand themselves, others and the world in which they live. A curriculum that also ensures that every child feels valued and cared for.

A Geography Curriculum that provides a range of opportunities, designed to empower every child to ‘dream big’ and develop a sense of what is possible for them to achieve now and in their future lives.

A Geography Curriculum that ensures all children have the skills, knowledge, attitude and social understanding to achieve in all aspects of their lives  and equip them to become active and engaged citizens.

Curriculum

Approach

Our mastery approach to lesson design is based upon our strong knowledge of pedagogy and our understanding of our children’s needs. This ensures that each lesson maximises both learning and our core beliefs of Appreciate, Aspire and Achieve.

A carefully considered teaching cycle is followed throughout the school promoting progress of knowledge, understanding and skills. The cycle applies an enquiry based approach that provides continuity and progression from Foundation Stage to Year 6, incorporating the requirements of the National Curriculum.

Geography begins in the Foundation Stage through understanding of our world and experience of our school environment. This progresses into Key Stage 1 as pupils explore the world, United Kingdom and their locality, non-European country, weather patterns and compare climatic similarities and differences around the world. In Key Stage 2 pupils continue their learning journey by extending their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area; to include the United Kingdom, Europe and North and South America.  They study a range of characteristics of the world’s most significant human and physical features;  expanding their explorative learning powers, which enables them to become confident independent members of the global society.

Teachers reinforce an expectation that all pupils can achieve high standards in geography. We facilitate a variety of quality learning experiences, in mixed ability groups, as we believe all children can achieve.  All children are exposed to high level thinking, questions and problem solving experiences as well as having an opportunity to collaborate and develop a growth mind-set through working with their peers.

Lessons include high quality opportunities for children to confidently ask, answer and challenge geographical questions using a variety of data sources such as maps, statistics, graphs, pictures, aerial photographs and geographical footage. To enrich learning and experience of geography in the real world we encourage learning beyond the classroom capitalising on fieldwork opportunities within our locality, nationally and internationally. Where appropriate, teachers respond to world events that provide valuable learning opportunities that connect with the real world in order to build on prior knowledge and make connections.

Geographical vocabulary is prioritised so that each child develops geographical terminology year on year which is strengthened through connections with other core and foundation subjects.

Differentiation is achieved through adult support, personal challenge, encouraging children’s individual flair and fluency. Interventions focus on gaps in knowledge, and developing resilience, in order to ensure all children achieve.

We provide high quality professional development to ensure that we are always improving the quality of our teaching so that this impacts upon children’s learning and ensures teachers develop deep subject knowledge and thorough knowledge of how to teach Geography. They engage in collaborative planning and are continually seeking to improve their effectiveness through the help and support of the subject leader.

Impact

Children’s knowledge, understanding and progress across all subject areas as well as their desire and ability to learn will be measured using a range of qualitative and quantitative strategies including: information from book scrutiny, performance data measured from starting point, lesson observations, drop ins, all stakeholder voice, collaborative research, use of external critical friends and self / peer evaluation.

By the time a pupil leaves Lunt’s Heath Primary School in Year 6, they will have the essential knowledge needed to be educated citizens prepared for the next stages in learning. They will have confidently mastered the knowledge and skills required in order to understand the geographical matters and processes that impact people and places.