Geography

Geography at Cam Woodfield Junior School

Intent

At Cam Woodfield Junior School, we believe that a high-quality Geography Curriculum will inspire curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them through learning and life. It will help pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the interaction between the Earth’s key physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of Earth’s landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and changed over time.

At Cam Woodfield Junior School, the Geography Curriculum provokes and answers questions about the natural and human world, using different scales of enquiry to view them from different perspectives. It develops: a knowledge of places and environment throughout the world; an understanding of maps; and a range of investigative and problem solving skills both inside and outside the classroom. As our pupils study geography, they encounter different societies and cultures. Our Geography Curriculum can inspire our pupils to think about their own place in the world, their values and their rights and responsibilities to other people and for our planet as a whole.

Through our Geography Curriculum, pupils investigate a range of places – within Britain, Europe and the wider world – to help develop their knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes and features. We are committed to provide our pupils with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area within Cam, the Stroud District and Gloucestershire, so that they can develop a real sense of who they are, their heritage, and what makes our local area unique and special. We also develop their ability to apply their geographical skills to enable them to confidently communicate their findings and geographical understanding to a range of audiences and for a variety of purposes.

Through high quality teaching, we develop the following essential characteristics of geographers:

                   A sense of wonder and curiosity about the world and the people who live here;

                   A sense of responsibility and respect for the environment and the people of the world.

                   An excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like, both in Britain and the wider world;

                   An comprehensive understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected;

                   An extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary;

                   Fluency in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills, as well as effective presentation techniques;

                   The ability to reach clear conclusions and explain their findings;

                   Excellent fieldwork skills as well as other geographical aptitudes and techniques;

                   The ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current issues in society and the environment.

Implementation

For each theme, teachers are provided with an additional planning session alongside colleagues to map their curriculum for that theme. Through our theme-based approach to learning, geography is given context and purpose with opportunity for cross-curricular links and application of skills.

Throughout the teaching and learning of Geography, we spend time on the Retrieval of Knowledge from prior learning before accumulating more Sticky Knowledge, enabling children to progress in their Geography knowledge and skills by knowing more, remembering more and being able to do more.

To ensure children have effective Geography lessons, teachers plan the following:

                   A sequence of geography lessons for each theme which carefully build upon prior learning, promote progression of knowledge and skills and provide opportunity for depth of learning, (concentrating on the geographical skills matched to each year group);

                   Opportunities for children to develop their geographical vocabulary;

                   Opportunities for children to develop their geographical enquiry through looking at a range of sources;

                   Cross curricular links and application of skills, giving their learning a wider purpose;

                   Trips and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience;

                   Appropriate curriculum themed home learning tasks which children complete with adults at home;

                   Opportunities for children to communicate their findings and geographical understanding to a range of audiences and for a variety of purposes;

                   Adapting lessons to match all pupils’ needs to ensure they achieve and are challenged in their Geography learning, as well as using a range of activities and ways to record their understanding.

Impact

Our Geography Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

•  All children will have:

                  A wider variety of skills linked to both geographical knowledge and understanding;

                  Demonstrate that they have built upon prior learning and they can apply their understanding to a range of contexts within Geography and real life applications;

                  A richer geographical vocabulary, which will enable to articulate their understanding of taught concepts and actively take part in discussions;

                  Enthusiasm,  high aspirations and a sense of curiosity of the world we live in, where children are posing questions to investigate and discuss;

                  A secure geographical understanding of the world in which they live in;

                  A respect for our world and its people and understanding of their responsibilities to it.

In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

                 Analysis of the objectives achieved, the depth of their achievement and the percentage of children achieving ARE within their year group;

                 Analysis of achievement of different vulnerable groups;

                 Moderation events within the school to demonstrate the progression across the year groups.