The Woodfield Geography Curriculum 

Intent

At Woodfield we want all of our children to develop a love of geography and have a deep understanding of the geographical concepts that they learn. We believe that geography education at Woodfield should be fully inclusive to every child. Our geography curriculum equips children with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deeper understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

Geography plays a vital part in the sustainability of the world’s natural resources so it is essential that our children have a deep understanding of this.

Geography draws on other areas of the curriculum and gives children opportunities to apply their learning and knowledge.

Through high quality geography teaching, we aim to develop the following characteristics for children to become confident geographers. We provide opportunities that:

• Enable children to locate the worlds continents, countries, cities, seas and oceans and to compare within Britain and the wider world.
• Build on their geographical knowledge and vocabulary through using our coloured vocabulary ladders from EYFS to Year Two and Geography word mats.
• Aim to help children develop the skills of interpreting a range of sources of geographical information gathered through experiences of fieldwork around our school and wider grounds.
• Inspire pupils’ curiosity to discover more about the world through using world maps, globes, atlases, iPads, aerial photograph’s, diagrams and Google Earth.

Implementation

At Woodfield we follow the national curriculum for geography. A cross-curricular approach ensures that pupils are immersed within a theme and provides them with the opportunity to develop their geographical knowledge through a wide range of practical and exciting lessons.

Geography learning begins in the Foundation Stage where pupils are taught about their personal geography and reflect upon festivals/celebrations around the world. They develop observational skills and join in with discussions about their immediate environment. Woodfield staff also take into consideration pupils interests and provide opportunities for them to extend their knowledge about the wider world.

In Key Stage 1 pupils continue to learn about their own locality and begin to make comparisons with other locations. There are opportunities for pupils to develop their geography skills through map work and fieldwork. This provides pupils the chance to develop their observation and measuring skills as well as recording data and communicating their findings. These skills are taught progressively throughout the school and build upon pupil’s prior knowledge.

Long term plans and progression documents, used alongside termly overviews, guide the teachers in the planning and teaching of geography. Knowledge organisers detail what knowledge the children should bring with then to the unit of work, what the children will learn in a unit of work and what they will go onto learn next. As well as detailing key vocabulary, knowledge and skills.

Throughout all of the geography curriculum, children are encouraged to use our ‘Learning Powers’. For example, the children will need to work collaboratively with their peers and explain things to help others particularly when using atlases. They will be curious geographers asking questions about their learning and finding out about different continents/countries.

Special Educational Needs and Geography

Effective quality first teaching is the key to enabling all children to participate and develop their geographical knowledge and skills. Differentiation within lessons is a vital component to ensure that a balance of support and challenge is achieved by all learners.

Challenge and support specific to geography may include:

• First hand experiences
• Pre-teaching of more advance vocabulary
• Providing picture clues, sentence stems, letter reveal
• Interactive resources using an Ipad
• Outdoor practical activities using the large map on playground

Pupils not secure within a lesson sequence are noted and adjustments made to the differentiation or level of support given.  Similarly, added challenge is given to those pupils requiring it. This may be through questioning or the use of written work.

Impact

The geography curriculum at Woodfield provides children with a real sense of their environment and wider world. Through fieldwork, children have the opportunity for a hands on approach which allows them to apply skills they have practiced within the classroom. These skills can then be built upon and developed further as the children continue as geographers.

The assessment of geography is ongoing and helps inform teachers planning. Misconceptions are tackled through questioning, marking and feedback. Children in year 2 are given time to respond to feedback using their purple polishing pens. This ensures that misconceptions are addressed.

Pupil voice questionnaires are carried out by the subject lead to monitor the teaching and learning taking place and planning is also monitored to ensure that the children experience the geography curriculum as intended.

End of Key Stage One Expectations

By the end of Key Stage One, as geographers, children will be able to:

• talk about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality.
• identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles.
• use key geographical vocabulary relating to human and physical geography
• confidently use world maps, atlases and globes
• devise a simple map, construct basic symbols in a key and be able to describe the location of features and routes using simple compass directions
• use geographical skills including observational skills around their school