Geography

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INTENT:      The vision for Geography at Lakeside

At Lakeside, we want to instil in children curiosity and fascination of the world (physical geography) and people around us (human geography). We will be studying a range of places, initially within Derby and the local area and moving further afield throughout the school year, using Derby as an ongoing comparison to other areas around the world. The explicit teaching of different cultures, traditions and communities locally and around the world will encourage children to be tolerant and accepting of other faiths and have respect for diversity. We nurture children’s inquisitive nature to explore and question the world around them through our enquiry-based topics and taking advantage of the local area of Alvaston and Derby for real-life opportunities for fieldwork to be undertaken. We facilitate purposeful activities for children to apply the skills, knowledge and understanding and to communicate this to a range of audiences. 

Curriculum Design, Coverage & Progression 

The geography overview details how the national curriculum objectives are mapped out and integrated into topics in each year group, to show full coverage and progression of skills.  The key geographical vocabulary to be taught is added to the overview to show clear progression of technical terms. Educational visits, residentials and ‘Wow’ events are incorporated into the curriculum to engage and enhance the learning experiences, such as exploring the local park/area, the residential to the Peak District and visit to Treak Cliff Cavern.  The Geography synopsis shows how each year group curriculum build on previous knowledge and skills.  Our geography curriculum for Yr1-6 builds on the Understanding the World, People and Communities strand of the Development Matters document.  

The geography curriculum encompasses all the elements of our whole school approach to developing PROUD learners with lifelong skills:, Pride in learning, taking ownership of what we would like to find our about the world around us and how we can be independent learners to fulfil this.  Use our Reading skills to research, Oracy to talk confidently about our geography learning and pose questions.  Understanding yourself, your local area, your school and your family.  Demonstrating Drive and motivation to engage in a range of activities developing the skills of a ‘Lakeside Geographer’ to ultimately answer the Big Question. 

Children can achieve aspects of the Harmony Pledge through the Geography curriculum, for example the importance of being an Eco-Warrior is explored through the learning on the environment, being respectful of our environment, being an adventurer (orienteering skills) and some of our trips exploring our local environment and wider afield on trips and residentials,  and also looking at how we can volunteer to look after our local environment.   

IMPLEMENTATION          

Geography section of the year groups ‘What we are learning about’, outlines the knowledge and skills that will be the focus of the each topic and poses the ‘Big Question’.  The knowledge organiser is shared with the children at the start of the topic and sent to parent/carers to support with home learning.  This includes key facts, knowledge and technical terms that will be taught during the topic, children are encouraged to pose questions, discuss what they already know and identifying links with prior learning using the knowledge organiser.

Year groups share the ‘Big Picture’ at the start of a geography unit to outline to the children the knowledge and skills that will be achieved by the end of the unit.  The ‘Big Picture’ is shared again at the start of each lesson in the sequence, to reinforce the previous lesson’s learning and assess children’s understanding, through questioning, low stakes quizzing and peer discussions.  Teachers will build into the unit time to research and answer questions posed by the children.  At the end of the topic, the ‘Big Question’ is explored to ascertain if the learning throughout the topic concluded in answering it.

Scaffolds are a common feature to support children’s learning within lessons, for example the use of language structures, displayed vocabulary, knowledge organisers and visual stimuli.

The topic journey is showcased on the working wall, this is used to display learning produced, photographs, key concepts and answers to the questions explored at each stage of the topic.

Geography lead will carry out pupil voice alongside a book look for pupils to share their learning and share about their geography knowledge.  Staff voice is used to identify effective resources, subject knowledge, support CPD needed and what is working well.

Geography is celebrated through central displays and working walls within the classroom based around the current topic.


For the Synopsis of Geography at Lakeside and the Geography Curriculum Coverage and Progression document, see below: 

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