Geography

Geography Intent

Our curriculum is designed to prepare children for later life by giving them access to a wide and varied curriculum that allows them to explore the world around them. From learning about physical geography, to how humans change the world around them we want children to see how beautiful and amazing world is and believe that they can change things to help protect it.  

We would like our children to understand and appreciate the uniqueness of their local area, its location and how it is connected to the rest of the United Kingdom and the wider world. We would also like our children to be aware of the diverse nature of Cumbria’s landscape, the variety of industries and the people within them. We want to broaden their cultural capital, equipping them with the knowledge of contrasting towns and cities within the world but especially the UK. We want our children to have a strong sense of place from the moment they enter our school and for this to develop throughout their time at Penny Bridge, leaving us as life-long learners demonstrating empathy, ambition and hope for the world in which they live.

In Geography, the key concepts are:

  • Location
  • Place
  • Human and Physical Geography
  • Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

Curriculum Drivers

  • Our key learning behaviours: curiosity, independent learning and positive relationships are embedded in the teaching of Geography.
  • To be inspired by the natural world, to nurture and help protect it and respect the variety of people living within it. 
  • Active lifestyles are encouraged when exploring the local and contrasting environments and create projects that nurture and protect it. 

Implementation

The Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership (CUSP) is used as a base for teaching and learning in Geography. CUSP, rooted in evidence, research and cognitive science is designed to be cumulative, coherent and connected.

Knowledge is carefully sequenced over a two-year cycle  and ensures children have the prior knowledge and background knowledge to access the curriculum. In Geography, we think deeply about the planning sequence that we deliver to help meet the needs of all our children. Each learning module that is taught considers the cumulative end goals that we want our children to reach at the end of each phase of their primary journey. The key concepts act as a golden thread and help to hold all the learning together.

To support the teaching and learning in Geography:

  • A knowledge organiser is used at the start of a new module and contains the substantive knowledge we want our children to remember.
  • Duel knowledge notes are used in every lesson and they provide the substantive knowledge that will be taught.
  • We use Strong Start lessons to secure the disciplinary concepts in Geography.
  • We use reference lessons to provide a shared understanding of the foundational knowledge. These lessons support children in accessing the rest of the learning sequence.
  • Thinking tasks offer challenge and an opportunity to apply learning.
  • All learning modules are cumulatively built and connected through the substantive concepts.

Geography Lesson Structure

A cumulative model is used within lessons using a teach-task-teach-task model to keep children engaged and to develop long term memory. The six phases of a lesson structure follow this sequence, but it is never set in stone.

Enrichment Activities

We have a purposeful enrichment programme that promotes purposeful learning opportunities and deepens children's understanding in Geography. In EYFS, the children explore the school grounds and the village of Greenodd. In KS1 the children study the immediate locality and surrounding villages and towns. They take part in local walks and have an opportunity to apply their Geography learning in an outdoor setting. In KS2 the children study local rivers and through our outdoor programme they have the opportunity to kayak down a local river. In Y5/6 children will experience a trip to London to visit geographical landmarks.  

Impact

Children are assessed against our curriculum endpoints through a variety of different methods: small assessment tasks, retrieval practice, low-stake quizzes, classroom responses and teacher judgements. 

Leaders monitor teaching and learning through child voice, parental questionnaires as well as book looks and learning walks and using the online app SeeSaw to record evidence of learning. The development of the children in school is also monitored through daily informal conversations.

  • Children will develop lifelong learning behaviours such as pride, resilience and team work.
  • Our children will be able to understand, appreciate and succeed in modern Britain.
  • Our children will develop a lifelong love of learning through our vision and drivers.
  • Our children will be responsible global citizens and courageous advocates through the Christian Values we have instilled in them during their time in school.
  • All children will leave our school, fully equipped for the next stage in their learning.

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