“The study of geography is about more than just memorizing places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents. And in the end, it’s about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.” Barack Obama
Geography Overview – Topics We Follow
INTENT
What takes place before teaching in the classroom?
At St. Anthony’s the intention is to engage and inspire children to develop an appreciation and understanding of Geography and the wider world which they can carry with them throughout their lives. We aim to support all children in increasing their awareness of the world around them by introducing pupils to a wide variety of places, world processes, cultures and geographical skills.
Our broad, enriching curriculum aims to encourage children in all key stages to develop listening skills, increase their concentration, and develop questioning skills, perseverance and the ability to work as part of a group. We develop geographical interest by helping pupils to appreciate where they are and to be aware of the world immediately around them and beyond. We do this through active involvement of the pupils in identifying aspects of other countries and cultures, especially if they are different to their own area.
We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of the wider world and ensure they are able to use their geographical skills, knowledge, and experiences to develop an awareness of environmental change and be aware of a need for sustainable development and protection for a world with changing climates and finite resources. We aim to explore and celebrate geography from cultures and countries around the world, developing a rich understanding of the world around pupils in an expressive and exciting way.
We hope our geography curriculum inspires in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. And that our teaching will equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deeper understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
The Senior Leadership Team will:
- Lead the school staff to develop a clear overarching curriculum intent which drives the ongoing development and improvement of all curriculum subjects
- Ensure that the curriculum leaders have appropriate time to develop their specific curriculum intent through careful research and professional development.
- Provide sufficient funding to ensure that implementation is high quality.
The Geography Curriculum Leader will work closely with the subject teachers to:
- Understand and articulate the expectations of the Geography Department to the Head teacher and Governing Body.
- Support teaching and support staff.
- Ensure an appropriate progression of knowledge is in place which supports pupils in knowing more and remembering more about the earth.
- Ensure an appropriate progression of geographical skills and knowledge is in place over time so that pupils are supported to be the best geographers they can be, and challenge teachers to support struggling individuals and extend more competent ones.
- Ensure an appropriate progression for vocabulary is in place for each phase of learning, which builds on prior learning.
IMPLEMENTATION
What does this look like in the classroom?
Teaching and Learning
- Secondary Geography provision is overseen by a qualified Geography Teacher and Associate Teachers/SSA’s who specialise within the subject and have relevant humanities qualifications. KS3 pupils have one/two lessons a week.
- Transition from KS3-KS4: Pupils experience a range of co-ordinated, progressive geographical topics based on the National Curriculum in KS3, which link into and is followed by the WJEC Humanities Entry Pathways exam criteria in KS4.
- KS4: The Key Stage 4 curriculum has been developed to support St Anthony’s pupils with their individual development, learning and appropriate level of accreditation. The Humanities Entry Pathways course is one of the options available and incorporates both History and Geography.
- The Geography Department has detailed planning which links with our curriculum progression document and assessment opportunities.
- The Curriculum Progression document is a skills based overview showing how we plan for progression in geography and develop competence in a range of skills including locational knowledge, place knowledge and human and physical geography.
- Pupils are taught to extend their locational knowledge and deepen their spatial awareness of the world’s countries by using maps of the world.
- Lessons are engaging and pupils are challenged by the curriculum they are provided with.
- Pupils are taught to understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of human and physical geography of the world.
- Children have the opportunity to respond in a variety of ways. These may include roleplay, written work, homework, Makaton and discussion.
- Pupils are taught to understand, through the use of detailed examples, the key processes in physical and human geography and the fact that these processes interact to influence, and change landscapes, environments and climates around the world.
Classroom Organisation
- Pupils work as a whole class, small groups or individually to support them in the development of their skills.
- Differentiation and adapted learning are planned for within activities and allowance is made for ability and experience.
- We provide appropriate quality resources and use interactive whiteboards, laptops and iPads to enhance and support pupil learning.
- Engaging displays and learning walls are evident.
- Support staff are deployed effectively to enhance learning.
Extra-Curricular Opportunities:
- In past terms we run a Rising Stars enrichment programme for pupils who have shown an interest in geography.
- Termly homework is available for all pupils across KS3 & 4 in the school homework booklets.
IMPACT
How is success measured in Geography?
Our pupils are:
- Engaged because they are challenged by the curriculum which they are provided with.
- Resilient learners who are learning to overcome barriers and understand their own strengths and areas for development.
- Safe and happy to be active participants in geography lessons (having been given opportunities to explore their own creative development in a supportive and nurturing environment).
- Showing progression of knowledge and understanding, with appropriate vocabulary and technical skills which support and extend learning.
- Becoming confident in discussing geography, their own work and identifying their own strengths and areas for development.
Assessment
- Pupils are provided with personalised progress trackers showing their subject targets. These are linked to St. Anthony’s Assessment Steps and allow pupils to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon.
- Our Progress Trackers for Steps and Pre-Steps are in place in pupil’s subject folders.
- Data is recorded termly onto Earwig (our online recording system used for data collection). This enables staff to identify pupils who need additional support and develop those meeting or exceeding expectations.
- Pupils are encouraged and nurtured to overcome any barriers to their learning or self-confidence because feedback is positive and focuses on Geographical skills and knowledge.
- Assessment shows that pupils develop Geographical skills and confidence over time because of careful planning, focused delivery and time to practice and hone skills.
- Observation, listening, questioning, discussing, digital recordings and involvement in the activities are used to make assessments.
- We monitor the impact of our geography provision through termly assessments, lesson observations, learning walks, performances and work scrutiny.
- In addition to academic achievement, social emotional progress including self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others and self-reflection may be discussed during Annual Reviews, in EOY reports, parent consultation evenings, open evenings and in postcards home to parents.
For more curriculum information about what pupils study in this subject please visit our curriculum and exams provision page .