Geography at North Scarle Primary School

Intent

At North Scarle Primary, through our Geography curriculum, we aim to expand geographical vocabulary, increase our children’s knowledge and curiosity of the wider world and promote high aspirations.

We seek to create a life-long love of the subject, through teaching our children about diverse places, people and resources. Through the study of natural and human environments, as well as physical and human processes, our desire is to provide our children with a sense of awe and wonder about the world they live in. As they continue their journey of Geography, we aim to foster a deep understanding of the subject that develops alongside their geographical skills.

Our aim is that our children go on to apply these skills across all subjects, as well as in their futures beyond North Scarle. Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with the subject specific language they need to describe, question and discuss the world, as well as their place in it. We aim to produce well- rounded individuals by providing our children with opportunities to expand their cultural capital and experiences of the world.

Our four key threads are our vision and weave through everything we do at North Scarle Primary School: Inclusivity, inspirational, enrichment and aspirational.

The purpose of our geography curriculum is to foster a deep understanding and appreciation of the world around us. Our inclusive approach from the design of our curriculum to the delivery within our classrooms enables us to instil a curiosity in all our children about diverse places, cultures, environments, and human interactions with the Earth. Our curriculum seeks to develop a spatial awareness, critical thinking skills, and an understanding of sustainable practices. We want our pupils to be inspired by our planet, learning how we are connected through migration and trade and resources and to see the impact, both positive and negative, we can have as humans on our planet’s future survival, cultivating global citizenship and a sense of responsibility towards our planet. Enrichment opportunities weaved through the curriculum enhance our pupils’ abilities to make connections with the world around them. We use our local area at every opportunity, to allow the children to get a hands-on approach to fieldwork in a familiar environment. We have designed our cohesively planned geography curriculum to be aspirational so that all pupils can achieve success.

Implementation

Our Geography curriculum has been developed from Kapow Primary’s Geography scheme of work which aligns with the National curriculum and enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum. Kapow Primary’s Geography scheme of work has been designed to be broad, balanced and progressive, spanning key geographical concepts, skills and knowledge appropriate for each stage of primary education.

Learning about the world starts in the Early Years. In EYFS Geography is taught through the Specific area of learning: ‘Understanding the World’. Objectives are set out in our personalised EYFS Curriculum, underpinned by the Early Learning Goals. The EYFS objectives and ELC’s set out the foundational knowledge that will support our children in their further Geography learning in Key stage 1.

Moving up the school children are taught in mixed age groups as follows: KS1 (Year 1 and 2) lower KS2 (Year 3 and 4) and upper KS2 (Year 5 and 6). Units of study are arranged as an A/B cycle.

The Kapow Primary scheme is a spiral curriculum, with essential knowledge and skills revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Locational knowledge will be reviewed in each unit to coincide with our belief that this will consolidate children’s understanding of key concepts, such as scale and place, in Geography.

Impact:

By the time pupils leave North Scarle Primary school they will:

• Have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• Have an excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
• Have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Be fluent in complex geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
• Have significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations and representations of subject matter.
• Have highly developed and frequently utilised fieldwork and other geographical skills and techniques.
• Have a passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there.
• Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.