Implementation of our Geography Curriculum

• A carefully sequenced geography curriculum allows children to build on prior geography knowledge.
• Our Geography Curriculum begins by looking at our local area and then branching out to other countries to enable children to draw upon similarities and differences.
• Comparison lessons and links with topics covered in previous year groups are planned for. These enable children to constantly revisit and recap previous topics.
• Knowledge planners provide the structure to learning, specifying key knowledge and vocabulary that we want all children to be fluent with.
• Acting as a planning, teaching and assessment tool, the knowledge Planner makes it clear to teachers, pupils and parents what knowledge and vocabulary is expected to be learnt by the end of the unit and within lessons.
• Knowledge planners highlight outcomes through exit quizzes, allowing children, parents and teachers to monitor and assess their own learning.
• Mind maps are a central part of learning in geography as a way for the children to organise their learning and help them to retain the information..
• Carefully planned entry and exit tasks formatively assess learning and provide the opportunity for children to show what they know.
• Discrete geography lessons take place.
• Children will have individual books for Geography and lessons will be blocked across the school.
• Key skills such as observation, analysis, investigation and reflection are developed across our Geography curriculum.
• Key attitudes are encouraged throughout learning. All learning is built around the 5Ps: pace, productivity, presentation, perseverance and progress.
• Critical thinking and problem solving are essential to learning across our curriculum. Lessons are planned in such a way that children can apply their knowledge in critical thinking/problem solving contexts.
• We use a SMARTER approach to lesson delivery in history. This is an approach that focuses on the retention and application of knowledge. (Start with a quiz, Map it, ask a big question, read the objective, engage, retention/application task.)
• Our school has its own orienteering course that has been created to help our children with map skills.
• Geography topics are linked to Christian values and the Bible where appropriate. Children are given the opportunity to reflect on learning and relate geographical learning to Christian values.