Geography
Intent
At St. Andrew’s, our Geography curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and 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 of Levenshulme and Manchester so that they can develop a real sense of who they are, their heritage, and what makes our local area unique and special. We also develop 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 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
Implementation
Geography at St. Andrew’s is taught in topic-based units throughout the year, so that the children can achieve depth of learning. The National Curriculum provides us with a broad framework outlining the knowledge and skills to be taught in each Key Stage. The key knowledge and skills of each topic have been identified and progression has been ensured across topics for each year group throughout the school.
At the beginning of each topic, children are encouraged to convey what they know already, in addition to what they would like to find out. Teachers use this information to inform their planning and ensure that lessons are relevant and take into account children’s different starting points.
As part of the planning process, teachers:
- carry out a pre-learning assessment;
- produce a cycle of lessons for each unit, which carefully plans for progression and depth, concentrating on the geographical skills suited to the age group;
- plan and facilitate trips (both locally and further afield) and specialist visitors to school to enhance the learning experience of the children;
Impact
Our Geography Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and planned to demonstrate progression.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- A reflection of achievement against planned standards and key skills;
- Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught;
- Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning;
- Where relevant, images and videos of children’s practical learning;
- Interviewing children about their learning (pupil voice);
- Moderation staff meetings where pupils’ books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for dialogue between teachers to discuss achievement and progression;
- Annual reporting of standards;
- Marking of written work in books.