Geography Curriculum at Corpus Christi Primary School

‘Geography is a subject which holds the key to the future.’ (Michael Palin)

Intent

What do we want to achieve in our curriculum?

At Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, we want to provide high quality geography education which fosters children’s curiosity and fascination for the world we live in.  We want to develop children’s understanding of the world by bringing the world ‘into our school’ and by inspiring our children to go out into the world, to explore new places and experiences.  Global learning and Pope Francis’ encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ (care for our common home) have helped our children to develop an awareness of their global citizenship and stewardship of God’s world. Through our curriculum we want to equip our children with the knowledge and skills to be global ambassadors, whose actions can shape and improve the future of our planet.

Our curriculum is knowledge rich and specifies the substantive and disciplinary knowledge to be taught.

It has been explicitly mapped out so the knowledge our children gain has been carefully specified, ordered coherently and built up, leading to the children gaining greater expertise and developing the habit of thinking geographically.

We want to deliver a high-quality geography curriculum by facilitating opportunities for our teachers to develop their subject knowledge and to access professional expertise. Teachers aim to translate the intended curriculum into effective learning experiences which allow pupils to learn and remember the key content in lessons. These experiences include children studying their local environment and developing links with the local community.  We also want to instil in our pupils a sense of identity and responsibility, equipping them with the skills and knowledge they require to be active citizens who can bring about change and improvements in the local area.

Through our enriching curriculum, we want children to develop a ‘life-long love’ of geography and a passion for exploring the world. As a careers-related learning school, we also aim to provide our children with the resources, knowledge and skills to become budding geographers of the future.

 

Implementation

How is our curriculum delivered?

At Corpus Christi Primary School, geography is taught throughout the year in modules which enable our children to study in depth key geographical understanding, skills and vocabulary.

Our curriculum is organised into small steps of component knowledge and skills, which build upon previous knowledge and which when combined together lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the key geographical concepts.

In the summer term our geography curriculum covers a ‘Spatial Sense’ module that explicitly teaches geography skills such as locating and positioning items on a map, using symbols in a key, using co-ordinates and interpretating data. In key Stage One the ‘Spatial Sense’ unit requires children to undertake fieldwork and to use observational skills to study the geography of their school and the surrounding environment.

Children will explore local facilities and read and create maps of the local area as well as the wider world by Key Stage Two. The Spatial Sense modules are positioned to allow practical fieldwork and pupils are also encouraged to apply their mathematical knowledge and skills to lessons outdoors. The aim of these units is to build upon children’s geographical literacy so that they are able to use an atlas, map and geographical data with ease to answer questions and solve problems. Using our school grounds and local environment also provide a rich context for the development and application of geographical skills as well as offering authentic learning activities which have real world impact.

At Corpus Christi, our geography curriculum is progressive and begins in EYFS where pupils participate in an engaging, stimulating curriculum which provides the children with many opportunities to learn about the world around us.

Each unit in geography aims to activate and build upon previous knowledge and is carefully sequenced to enable pupils to purposefully layer meaning from previous sessions and to facilitate the acquisition and retention of new geographical knowledge.

Geography is informed in line with the National Curriculum and modules are age appropriate; teachers strive to ensure lessons are engaging and inclusive and consideration is given to children requiring additional support and for those working at greater depth.

All teaching staff at Corpus Christi deliver the geography curriculum and there are regular opportunities for teachers to access high quality CPD to improve their subject knowledge.

In geography lessons, teachers encourage critical thinking and use enquiry-based learning such as ‘What is it like to live in this place? ‘What are the challenges of this environment?’ to answer questions. Children are also given the opportunity at the beginning of lessons to revisit learning through retrieval knowledge.

Whenever possible, children are also provided with a rich diet of learning experiences including fieldwork and educational visits.

At Corpus Christi, we also recognise the significance of utilising the local area and our school grounds and we are keen to develop further links with our local community.

Geography is monitored by the Geography lead and regular assessments are used to ensure progression throughout the key stages. During lessons, teachers monitor pupil progress and they use regular verbal feedback to respond to children’s work, address mis-conceptions and to suggest improvements. Learning environments are used effectively to display geographical concepts, key vocabulary and children’s work.

‘Book Talk’ is also used to assess children’s retrieval knowledge and to celebrate progress and achievement. Pupils are proud of their work.

 

Please click here to see our Geography Overview and progression maps

 

Impact       

At Corpus Christi primary School, our broad and balanced curriculum has been carefully mapped out to enable our children to gain the necessary knowledge and skills they require for them to gain expertise and to think like a geographer.

Curriculum coverage is not only evident in pupil work books but through class and whole school displays and learning environments. Pupils can talk about and show evidence of field work and educational visits and the impact of these experiences on their learning.

Through ‘Book Talk’ pupils are able to retrieve key geographical facts, make links and celebrate their achievements. Verbal feedback is used productively in lessons to help pupils improve their work and to celebrate achievement. Teachers have high expectations regarding children’s understanding and the quality and presentation of their work and vocabulary development is a key focus in lessons.

Pupils enjoy participating in a range of enriching fieldwork opportunities and educational children can discuss with enthusiasm educational visits to Danby Moors and the coast to study erosion and coastal features.

Our geography curriculum is ambitious and aims to equip our pupils with the necessary skills and knowledge. We believe that arming children with powerful knowledge about the world around them helps them to develop a love for the subject of geography and also to recognise their our role to becoming a responsible global citizen who can make a difference in God’s world.