Geography

INSPIRE Curriculum

Following our INSPIRE curriculum, geography is built around the national curriculum and is enriched to inclusively challenge, stimulate and nurture curiosity within our children.

Our vision in geography

Geography is more than just a core subject. Places are diverse, are often changing and are used in a variety of ways. Geography seeks to understand how different perspectives and values influence and affect places and environments at different scales. It helps explain global changes and how places are interconnected. Geography is a 'living' subject that deals with the world around us and the 'here and now'. It equips pupils with the knowledge and critcal thinking skills to consider their place in the world and imagine better futures. It is a vital subject that contributes to and enhances the wider curriculum as well as shaping our pupils into global citizens. 

Our aim is for pupils to: 

• develop ambition in children through teaching them how to ask perceptive questions and think like geographers
• deepen pupils' understanding of geographical processes, locations and features
• apply learning to first-hand experiences to develop personal learning schemas, geographical skills and provide exposure to diverse landscapes and places 
• develop a rich vocabulary that is applied to a range of contexts and places

Curriculum rationale

Our geography curriculum ensures a high quality education for pupils and is underpinned by four curricular attributes: scope, rigour, coherence and sequencing. Throughout the curriculum, knowledge is built upon and developed from an understanding of the local area, human and physical geography and the impact of humanity in our world. Knowledge organisers for each topic can be found below and can be used to support your child's learning at home. The development of this knowledge can then be applied to fieldwork, which deepens their understanding of geographical processes. Pupils have the opportunity to engage in fieldwork on school grounds, on residentials and in the local area. 

Our geographical journey

In EYFS, children are naturally curious about the world around them and are keen to learn more about what they see everyday. Our curriculum introduces our Nursery and Reception pupils to geographical concepts through discussion, exploration and comparison. We encourage children to develop understanding through their own 'lens' whilst engaging in rich discussions to deepen their awareness of differences in places and people. Allowing children to explore geography in their own self-led way supports this development. 

In Key Stage 1, this knowledge is built upon to develop stronger geographical foundations and deepen understanding of places. Pupils begin to build a growing sense of scale whilst learning about places beyond the locality. They are exposed to a wider range of vocabulary and begin to explore global physical and human processes that rarely occur within the UK. Geographical skills are purposefully built into topics to apply their knowledge and develop a strong foundation of map reading, observation and data collection. Pupils will gradually engage with geographical texts within lessons to develop their geographical vocabulary and exposure to these words in a range of contexts. 

In Key Stage 2, pupils are equipped to build and expand upon this foundation through a continuation in our rigorous and ambitious curriculum. The curriculum in KS2 is enriched with Opening Worlds resources that continue to develop a rich geographical vocabulary, knowledge of processes and place, and engagement with geographical texts each lesson. Topics are purposefully planned and sequenced to ensure vocabulary and knowledge progression. A range of case studies and contexts are explored each half term to develop pupils' sense of interconnectedness, scale, diversity and global citizenship. Geographical skills are purposefully incorporated into topics to allow pupils to apply their learning and build upon their foundational skills. 

Throughout the curriculum, we aim to foster curiosity and enthusiasm through explicit links to storytelling, purposeful teaching of vocabulary and creativity to achieve high-leverage learning for all pupils. 

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, 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

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zbkw2hv

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