Attendance News 2nd December 2024
Geography
Geography at The Beacon
Our vision for geography education is to make geography a dynamic, engaging subject that connects pupils with the world. Geography teaches about diverse, evolving places and explores how perspectives and values impact environments at different scales. This 'living' subject fosters an understanding of global interconnections and equips pupils with critical thinking to understand their role in the world and envision positive futures, shaping them as informed global citizens.
Our goals for pupils are to:
-Build ambition by teaching them to ask insightful questions and think critically.
-Deepen understanding of geographical processes, locations, and landscapes.
-Connect classroom learning with real-world experiences to strengthen skills and broaden perspectives.
-Cultivate a rich geographical vocabulary for diverse contexts.
Our geography curriculum is structured around scope, rigor, coherence, and sequencing. It builds knowledge progressively, from local areas to global scales, human and physical geography, and humanity's impact. Knowledge organisers and fieldwork, from school grounds to residential trips, reinforce learning.
In early years, children develop curiosity by exploring their surroundings, fostering understanding through self-led activities and discussion. Key Stage 1 builds foundational knowledge, introducing scale, global processes, and basic skills like map reading. By Key Stage 2, pupils expand on these foundations through case studies and vocabulary-rich resources, emphasizing interconnectedness, diversity, and global citizenship.
Our geography curriculum cultivates curiosity, storytelling, and creativity to foster high-impact learning, ensuring all pupils gain a meaningful understanding of our interconnected world.
You can find all current Knowledge Organisers as PDFs on each class page.
The Geography Quality Mark: Gold
We are proud to announce that we have been rewarded the Gold Primary Geography Quality Mark, by the Geographical Association as of September 2023, for embedding excellence and innovation in geography throughout the school. Geography has a strong presence in our school and is upheld by the hard work of our staff and Humanities Pupil Leadership Team, who strive to ensure the subject is evolving and enriching our school. We work hard to ensure all pupils develop a strong awareness of their place in the world, geographical skills, engage in community work and have the opportunity to embark on ample first-hand experiences. A conclusion of the Geographical Association's findings are detailed in the report attached below.
We ensure that all pupils leave The Beacon having had the opportunity to visit places beyond our locality each year to apply their geographical knowledge and skills. Some fantastic visits our pupils have attended so far this year have included: Windmill Farm, London, Cardiff, Hothersall Lodge, Chester, Barnstondale, Edinburgh, Crosby Hall, Crosby Beach, The Lake District and Croxteth Farm.
Here are some useful websites to support your learning:
https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-1/subjects/geography
https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-2/subjects/geography