Geography

Subject Intent

• The objectives for this curriculum area are taken from the national curriculum for Geography.
• We are following a knowledge led curriculum in Geography which aims to give the children the breadth of vocabulary and experiences to enable every child to succeed. 
• SEND and Pupil Premium children learn the objectives from the national curriculum which have been adapted to their strengths. It is challenging for all pupils. All children numeracy and literacy skills are supported when learning the geography curriculum. 
• We have split the objectives so that they are revisited and built upon: such as rivers in Year 2, 4 and 5. Teachers will meet to understand what the children have learnt in previous year groups.
• Knowledge organisers have been created for the current topic and they will be shared with other class teachers.
• Knowledge organisers are used as an end point and are assessed using quizzes.
• The knowledge organisers will include the following key knowledge; locational knowledge, place knowledge, map skills, human and physical geography, vocabulary and fieldwork. 
• The curriculum has been sequenced in order for children to build upon prior learning e.g. Year 2 visit the River Irk so they can understand purpose of rivers for when they look at rivers in Year 4.
• Geography is taught once a term for a period of 6 – 8 weeks which corresponds to 6-8 hours.
• In geography, we build upon pupil’s locational knowledge from Nursery to Year 6. In EYFS they look at aerial photos of our school, in KS1 they look at trips around the local area looking for human and physical geography. In KS2 they look at Manchester, including the physical and human geography and how it has impacted other places in the world. They also look at where Manchester is in the world and in the country using 4-grid and 8 grid maps and looking at counties.
• The children have access to high quality non fiction texts linked to the geography curriculum. 
• Children have many different experiences in Geography including fieldwork studies of the local and surrounding area which will make them ready for the next stage of their education.

Implementation

• Geography is taught weekly or fortnightly for the equivalent of 1 hours per week per term. 
• Our Geography curriculum ensures all pupils can access the objectives from the National Curriculum. Teachers use mixed ability pairings or ability groups to support and extend the pupils. Vocabulary will be written on the working wall and included in knowledge organisers which will support all children. Speech and language resources and those recommended by the EP for specific children, such as task boards and visuals, will be used in within lessons.  
• Teachers use knowledge organisers to outline the knowledge (including vocabulary) all the children must master. These are split into the six key aspects of geography we need the children to learn in order to be successful. These are: locational knowledge, place knowledge, map work, human and physical geography, key vocabulary and facts and fieldwork opportunities. Knowledge organisers are also taken home and published on the website.
• Each year group is given opportunities to explore fieldwork opportunities related to their geography objectives.

Impact

• Our curriculum demonstrates progression and the children's knowledge and understanding is closely monitored.
• Teachers assess the children's knowledge through low stake quizzes, discussions in the lessons and discussions with pupils about their learning.
• The children's topic books are used to evidence the children's knowledge and understanding of key concepts, their ability to apply vocabulary, skills and a range of recording methods.  

Visit these websites to learn more about Geography!