Intent

At Bierton, our main goal is for our pupils to develop knowledge and understanding of geography: human and physical features of our local community, country and the wider world. We want to ensure that learning is engaging, actively promoting an understanding of key geographical concepts through the exploration of skills and knowledge. Through an exciting, broad humanities curriculum, in geography, we aim to inspire the children’s curiosity and for them to be independent, lifelong learners of local, national and global issues. We study locational knowledge, starting with our local area, expanding across the United Kingdom and the wider world. In geography, we aim to develop the children’s knowledge of globally significant places and their understanding of key physical and human geographical features. We encourage fascination about the world and its people, further embedding an understanding of diversity and helping pupils to understand their world, their role in it and their responsibilities that come within it. We intend to inspire all children to excel and ‘let their light shine’ in geography and adapt our teaching and learning to suit their needs. We follow a key stage appropriate progressive programme of study with planned opportunities for field studies and learning outside of the classroom, including trips and visitors, maximising the use of our surroundings and local area. 

Implement

We follow a clearly sequenced and progressive programme of study, based on the National Curriculum objectives, where high quality teaching is appropriately pitched to individual children. Geographical enquiry is valued and encouraged and links are made with the children’s personal experiences and prior knowledge. Children seek answers to questions via individual research and analysing maps and photographs. The use of Chromebooks enhances their learning for individual research and the recording of knowledge. Teachers assess application of key skills and knowledge gained at the end of each lesson and at the end of a unit. Mind maps and/or quizzes are used to give opportunities to return to previous areas of learning, recall prior knowledge, make links and gain a deeper understanding. Links are made with local area places of interest and we utilise these connections to enhance learning and to increase children’s capital culture.  

 At the start of a unit the teacher should assess children’s knowledge of previous vocabulary and locational knowledge relating both to where the locations are and describing its geographical features. At the end of the unit children’s understanding of the skills and knowledge for that unit and their links to previous learning should be assessed. 

 At the start of a lesson the teacher should recap where they are looking at in that unit the children looked at the lesson before and they should have a review of the vocabulary they have learnt. Teachers should also use this to identify any existing misconceptions that will need to be addressed. The teacher should then teach the knowledge or skill being covered in that lesson. The skills and the knowledge should both be explicitly taught. Additionally, any new vocabulary needs to be explicitly taught and defined. Any knowledge taught should be taught with reference to linked knowledge they have already learnt. This knowledge could be knowledge they learnt that year or in a previous year. Skills should be taught and used with increasing complexity. An activity should then be given. If the lesson has been knowledge focused the aim of the activity should be recalling and memorising the knowledge. If the lesson has been skill focused then the activity should be about practising using the skill. If the lesson has taught skills and knowledge then the activity needs to apply the skill in a way that can help them memorise the knowledge.  

 At the end of the lesson there should be a short summary of the knowledge learnt and how it links to previous knowledge. Vocabulary should also be discussed. Children should also be assessed to gauge their understanding of any knowledge and skills they have learnt in that lesson.  

Impact

Pupils can recall previous knowledge and are prepared for the next stage of their learning. They have a sound understanding of human and physical features across the world and develop a range of skills: thinking independently; asking questions; making links; written and verbal explanations; recognising similarities and differences between different localities and geographical features. They are able to make links between geography and the values of our school. They can analyse a map to locate geographical features and places and from this they can record their knowledge and demonstrate their understanding in a range of ways using dates and key terms appropriately.  Pupils enjoy geography lessons and are confident to discuss and demonstrate their knowledge with others. They are able to talk confidently about their learning using appropriate and technical vocabulary and can read, spell and pronounce geographical vocabulary accurately. Children demonstrate an appreciation of geography and talk confidently about local and contrasting localities; applying their knowledge to other areas of learning as well as to the world around them. Their love of learning will inspire and motivate them to study geography further in their future education. For example, in Year 1’s local area study, children learn basic geographical concepts, knowledge, vocabulary and skills through the concrete experience of a familiar place. This then allows them to make meaningful comparisons with the Zambian locality of Mugumareno Village in Year 2. During Key Stage 2, this knowledge of places feeds into regional studies from the Americas, Europe and the UK. Knowledge becomes both broader and deeper as pupils progress and become familiar with an ever-wider range of places. This growing knowledge is also fed by the development of locational knowledge, geographical skills and a growing understanding of human and physical processes. At Key Stage 2, we have not considered it necessary that places in each year should be more distant than in the previous one. Rather, we have taken the view that a growing understanding of varied places and processes around the world should inform a conceptually rich understanding of life in the UK and Europe in Years 5 and 6.