Geography

Our Geography leader is Miss Ayling.

Towngate pupils

Intent

At Towngate Primary Academy, we endeavor to ignite children’s curiosity about the world around them through our geography curriculum. We are determined to, alongside geographical knowledge, ensure that there will be a high focus on the development of specific geographical skills through discrete Geography lessons. This ensures that children gain a broad and rich understanding of the subject, as well as be successful in preparation for their transition to the next stage of their education.

The Geography curriculum covers the knowledge and skills outlined by in the National Curriculum and Early Years Framework through broad, challenging and inspiring core concepts supplemented through the REACH scheme and non-statutory guidance in development matters.  The Geography curriculum is carefully built with 6 key concepts running throughout; climate, settlement, migration and immigration, population, resources and environment. These key concepts are imbedded across the curriculum in all key stages to ensure a strong Geographical knowledge and understanding is being built as children progress through school. The core concepts promote retention and long-lasting learning within the Geography curriculum.

Year group medium term plans ensure coverage of both the required knowledge and the subject specific skills. Individual sessions are planned to inspire, engage and challenge pupils in response to their needs. Children are given a wide variety of fieldwork experiences both in the classroom and out. We encourage children to understand the importance of outdoor learning in order to build a natural curiosity about the world they live in and how it works around them.

Pupils are encouraged to think like geographers and develop their skills such as map and compass reading, collecting and analysing data as evidence and communicating geographical information in a variety of ways. The curriculum and learning experiences provided through geography lessons also encourages our children to develop substantive skills such as inferring sources, analysing data, thinking critically and ‘thinking like a Geographer’.

Implementation

Classes have a weekly review activity to recap previous learning and vocabulary. This might be posed as a question or rapid recall. During lessons children are exposed to geography specific vocabulary and taught these through repetition and meaningful use. Flash cards are used to recap and reinforce previously taught vocabulary. Opportunities are planned to study various countries around the world and compare them to one another to deepen children’s understanding.  All new learning and skills is introduced in small steps and questioning is used and planned for throughout this to ensure high levels of understanding. Modelling is approached using my turn, our turn, your turn method which ensures children are confident to move on to independent learning.

Learning walls specific to geography themes are used in lessons to highlight key knowledge and vocabulary. In order to allow children’s understanding to deepen, various map and atlas styles and photographs are displayed, so that children are immersed in the subject and the skills. Both fiction and non-fiction texts are used to develop children’s geographical understanding and links to our book-led curriculum. Book are displayed under working walls for children to access and a range of non-fiction texts are available in reading areas.

Our curriculum is enhanced through fieldwork and Oracy opportunities, which are planned to allow children to apply and develop their skills through the use of appropriate field work in real world contexts and through using Geographical vocabulary and reasoning through speaking and listening opportunities.

Impact

As a result of the Geography curriculum in place, pupil voice from across the academy shows that pupils are developing an understanding of the methods and skills used by geographers in field work, place / locational knowledge and human/physical knowledge. Pupils use age-appropriate vocabulary which supports and extends their understanding and allows for pupils to show confidence in discussing geography, their own work and identifying their own strengths and areas for development.

Subject monitoring evidences that – over time – pupils are able to know more and remember more leading to positive outcomes in Geography.