Geography
As geographers at St Andrew's we...
At St Andrew's CE Primary, the Geography curriculum is designed to inspire pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical processes. It studies people’s interaction with the environment and allows pupils to explore social, environmental, economic and political aspects of place, whilst comparing local and global settings.
At St Andrew's, Geography is taught as a discrete subject in order that the development of knowledge and skills is taught meaningfully and explicitly. Naturally, links are made to other areas of the curriculum but this does not dilute the quality and entitlement of high quality Geography teaching.
The school’s long term plan for Geography sets out the content of teaching within in each year group. This is supported by the school’s Geography progression document which demonstrates learning outcomes within each strand of development within a Geography unit. Short term planning details how this content is developed over a series of lessons within the unit of work. The organisation of the Geography curriculum provides structured opportunities for pupils to:
develop enjoyment, interest in and knowledge of geography and an appreciation of its contribution to all aspects of everyday life
build on curiosity and sense of awe in our physical and social world
be introduced to the language and vocabulary of geography
develop better locational knowledge of the world’s countries, oceans and hemispheres
connect human and physical geography; allowing children to investigate social, environmental, economic and physical aspects of the subject.
Within each unit children complete field work studies. It provides the children with hands-on experience and encourages them to apply geographical concepts to their surroundings. It allows pupils to explain, ask questions and make discoveries about the world around them. This approach is crucial because it provides children with real-life contexts to develop their geographical skills, such as observation, measurement and data collection.
At St Andrew's, we value the development of technical vocabulary and strive to ensure our children understand terminology so they can articulate their thoughts with competence and confidence in different contexts.