Geography
Ambition
At St Mark’s we believe that children’s natural curiosity about the world around them should be nurtured to develop inquisitive, explorative and questioning geographers. Our world - its people, places and environments – are diverse and evolving constantly. It is our ambition for the children at our school to know more about the world they live in and understand the varied interactions between human and physical geography so they can work towards their preferred future. We aim for children to leave St Mark’s with a developed knowledge of their own locality as well as globally significant places and how they compare and contrast. They will understand geographical processes that produce the diverse physical and human characteristics of our world and how these are interdependent. We will encourage children to make links, be critical thinkers and ask perceptive questions.
Alongside their growing knowledge, children will develop essential skills to collect and analyse data through fieldwork, use and interpret a range of sources (such as maps, globes, photographs and diagrams) and communicate their findings in a variety of ways. We aim for children to gain a broad and useful geographical vocabulary which they can apply when giving their opinions, responses and predictions.
At the heart of St Mark’s, lie our values and through these, we aim to instil in children, a sense of environmental responsibility, encouraging them to understand environmental issues at a local and global level. We will guide them to take care of their world, be active citizens and contribute positively to their environment and their future.
Implementation
How is geography taught in EYFS?
Children in EYFS learn through adventure and curiosity based play. Geographical focus is on observing their immediate environment, discussing stories about their own and other countries, and investigating non-fiction books and maps. This supports their learning of similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries. They will be encouraged to observe the wonder of the natural world and explore their innate curiosity about their own experiences of the world they live in. They will be encouraged to recognise envrionments that are different to their own through stories, discussions and opportunities to represent these through their own play. Through everyday outdoor play, Forest School trips to SMILE Meadow and Wilderness Woods and excursions further afield, the children will develop their knowledge and understanding of important processes and changes in the natural world such as the seasons, habitats and lifecycles. Rich discussions will give children opportunties to hear and aquire vocabulary related to these processes to lay the foundations for successful future learning.
How is geography taught in KS1 and KS2?
Using Kapow Primary’s Geography scheme of work, St Mark’s deliver a clear progression of skills and knowledge within the four strands of the National curriculum: locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography and geographical skills and fieldwork. Informed by the progression of skills and knowledge, teachers build engaging and meaningful lessons.
Through a spiral curriculum, essential knowledge and skills are revisted with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on prior learning. In particular, locational knowledge is reviewed in each unit in order to consolidate children’s understanding of key concepts such as scale and place. Each unit of work is led by an open ended enquiry question which engages children from the start and gives purpose to their learning. Children are therefore motivated to investigate, enquire and explore. They will learn to collect, interpret, analyse and present data informed by their growing geographical knowledge. Opportunities for cross-curricular links are present in all units of work across the year groups giving meaningful context to their geographical learning.
"The enquiry cycle maps out the fieldwork process of question, observe, measure, record, and present, to reflect the elements mentioned in the National curriculum. This ensures children will learn how to decide on an area of enquiry, plan to measure data using a range of methods, capture the data and present it to a range of appropriate stakeholders in various formats. Fieldwork includes smaller opportunities on the school grounds to larger-scale visits to investigate physical and human features. Developing fieldwork skills within the school environment and revisiting them in multiple units enables pupils to consolidate their understanding of various methods. It also gives children the confidence to evaluate methods in a familiar environment. This makes fieldwork regular and accessible while giving children a thorough understanding of their locality, providing a solid foundation when comparing it with other places. Lessons incorporate various teaching strategies from independent tasks to paired and group work, including practical hands-on, computer-based and collaborative tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that all pupils can access learning, and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary." - Kapow Primary.
Geography is taught three times a year across both key stages to ensure full coverage of the National Curriclum.
Impact
Children from St Mark’s move onto KS3 as curious and inspired geographers with respect and appreciation for the world around them alongside an understanding of the interconnection between the human and the physical. During every geography lesson, teachers make formative assessments based on discussion, lesson quizzes and lesson outcomes which inform their end of year summative assessments on SIMS data management system. Children are also encouraged to self-assess against lesson success criteria and their understanding of the answer to the lesson's enquiry question. At the end of KS2, children will:
- Compare and contrast human and physical features to describe and understand similarities and differences between various places in the UK, Europe and the Americas.
- Name, locate and understand where and why the physical elements of our world are located and how they interact, including processes over time relating to climate, biomes, natural disasters and the water cycle.
- Understand how humans use the land for economic and trading purposes, including how the distribution of natural resources has shaped this.
- Develop an appreciation for how humans are impacted by and have evolved around the physical geography surrounding them and how humans have had an impact on the environment, both positive and negative.
- Develop a sense of location and place around the UK and some areas of the wider world using the eight-points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and keys on maps, globes, atlases, aerial photographs and digital mapping.
- Identify and understand how various elements of our globe create positioning, including latitude, longitude, the hemispheres, the tropics and how time zones work, including night and day.
- Present and answer their own geographical enquiries using planned and specifically chosen methodologies, collected data and digital technologies.
Enrichment
At St Mark's, children are given opportunities to go on trips in their local environment such as to Wilderness Woods and SMILE Meadow for Forest School and fieldwork.
We are linked with High Weald Heroes, who offer learning experiences in the local area.
We also make use of the Ashdown Forest for some units of work.
Awareness of global events such as Earth Day are highlighted through whole school assemblies.
