On this page you will find details of what your child will be learning in Geography during their time at the school. The content of the curriculum is laid out in the National Curriculum and the documents below will outline the aims and objectives of the teaching and learning of the subject at the school as well as the skills progression through your child's time at the school.

Intent

At Kilkhampton we believe that Geography helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world.

Children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. The curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their time at Kilkhampton and beyond.

We will aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching and learning will focus on locational knowledge; knowledge of places; human and physical geography and geographical skills and fieldwork. This is achieved through a focus on trips, evidence gathering and the factual recall of place and locational names. Teaching will equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world will help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the framework and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time. They will be competent in the geographical skills needed to: collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes; interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS); communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

In Geography, our curriculum enables all children to visit learning set out in the National Curriculum.  In Key Stage Two, children are able to revisit the key areas twice in order to deepen their learning and build upon the knowledge that has been acquired.

Implementation

The Geography curriculum provides the focus of many of the ‘topics’ studied across Key Stages One and Two. Learning is mapped to the National Curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations. 

Geography at Kilkhampton is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in their learning. The learning journey is mapped out in a two-year rolling programme. Subject-specific content, which has been mapped in partnership between the subject leader and class teachers, ensures there is clear progression, consolidation and extension of skills and knowledge.  In addition, this ensures that the curriculum is coherent and appropriately sequenced in programmes of study.  We build in opportunities for children to return to areas of learning, which allows them to gain a deeper understanding of the skills and processes within subjects.

In Key Stage One, children will get the chance to visit all areas outlined in the National Curriculum once, introducing them to learning and themes further developed in Key Stage Two.

During Key Stage Two, children will visit all areas of knowledge twice, once in Years Three and Four and again in Years Five and Six.  This has been designed to help learners remember in the long-term the content they have been taught and to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.

At the beginning of each topic, children are able to convey what they know already as well as what they would like to find out. This informs the programme of study and also ensures that lessons are relevant. Consideration is given to how greater depth will be taught, learnt and demonstrated, as well as how learners will be supported.

Please see the curriculum map for Geography at the end of this document.

Impact

Our Geography Curriculum is progressive and builds on key skills in the different geographical themes. It is planned to demonstrate cohesion and build on and embed current skills. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and also on vocabulary which also form part of the units of work.

If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Pupil discussions and interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).

• Work samples looked at by teachers and geography lead.

• Photo evidence and images of the pupils practical learning (particularly in EYFS).

• Monitoring with our subject geography lead visits to ensure that all classes have a consistent coverage of the curriculum.

• Opportunities for dialogue between teachers and geography lead for reflective teacher feedback.

• Teachers make a judgement at the end of each term as to whether a child is making good progress. This allows for data analysis to identify any gaps of knowledge or skills. This can then be identified for teacher’s future planning.

Underlying principles that allow this include:

• Active geography: pupils should DO geography, rather than just listen to it, by being engaged in practical activities in and beyond the classroom.
• Geographical voice: pupils should have ample opportunity to engage in discussion, debate and oral presentation, rather than just writing about the geography they are doing (so that it is geographical knowledge and understanding, not literacy, that is being assessed).
• A planned end point: all learning intentions should be planned against expectations and with continuous formative assessment of progress in mind.

Vickery Bear is a bear that loves to travel, helping the children learn about different places in the United Kingdom, new countries and cultures.

If your family is planning a trip, please collect Vickery Bear from Mrs Moyle. It would be great to have photos, postcards or information of places you have visited together, on his return to school. We will build up a display of his travels in the school hall.

Thank you,

Mrs Moyle