Intent

Our geography curriculum aims to inspire pupils to be explorers and is taught through engaging topics that follow the National Curriculum - giving our children opportunities to explore their local surroundings, and find out about wider geographical places. Children will develop an understanding of how human culture interacts with the natural environment and the way that locations and places can have an impact on people.  Our children will develop an understanding of where things are found, why they are there, and how they develop and change over time.  Children will aware of the physical and natural features of the world and understand the processes that developed them. We aim to give children an understanding of their place in our world and how we can help to protect the planet. 

Implementation
Geography at Studley Infants is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in their learning.  Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each blocked topic, and these are mapped across the school, ensuring that knowledge builds progressively and that children develop skills systematically.  Tasks are selected and designed to provide appropriate challenges to all learners and to develop independent working and confidence, in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion.  At the end of each topic, key knowledge is reviewed by the children and rigorously checked by the teacher and consolidated as necessary.

Topic Vocabulary underpin children’s understanding of subject specific language, remind children of previous knowledge and provide visual and summative information on key knowledge to be learned.  They support children in engaging in independent tasks and are reviewed in lessons and displayed on working.

Lessons are planned to promote different levels of learning.  Questioning is used to promote different levels of thinking (evaluative, creative and innovative) and prompt recall in children, encouraging them to reach conclusions on their own.

Cross curricular outcomes in geography are specifically planned for and these are indicated on the whole school Geography Knowledge and Skills Progression Map.  The Geography provision is also well resourced and specific resources are mapped to specific year groups and topics to support effective teaching and learning.  The local area is fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice.

Impact
Outcomes in topic and literacy books, evidence a broad and balanced geography curriculum and demonstrate children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge relating to each of the identified national curriculum strands, as appropriate to key stage; locational knowledge, place knowledge and human and physical geography.  This is in addition to the development and application of key skills, supported by fieldwork.

As children progress throughout the school, they develop a deep knowledge, understanding an appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context.  Geographical understanding, as well as children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is further supported by the school’s international days which are ran each half term.  Each international day we focus on a different country where we will find out where it is in the world, famous landmarks, food, music and culture. 

Geography Overview