Geography

Geography enables pupils to make sense of their world. At Dee Point Primary School, we aim to instil in our pupils a sense of curiosity and a fascination with the world around them and the wider world that will stay with them throughout their lives. Our Geography Curriculum is designed to be ambitious, inspiring and purposeful and will help children pose and provide answers to questions about different, interconnected aspects of human and physical geography.  We want to engage the children in a curriculum that will develop their cultural capital, their knowledge of the world around them and develop a sense of identity.

At Dee Point Primary School, our Geography Curriculum intends to:

• Provide children with a solid, sequenced set of geographical and enquiry skills that can be used in a wide variety of contexts
• Equip children with a broad and deep knowledge of the Earth’s resources and processes
• Provide children with opportunities to revisit core skills to secure long-term knowledge
• Engage children with imaginative and enjoyable learning that will develop their understanding of the world and their place in it
• Challenge them to think critically about real-world contemporary issues
• Provide children with the critical thinking skills and cultural capital that will support them throughout their lives
• Encourage them to show respect for their local, national and international environment and help them to become a global citizen.

Our implementation describes the way in which we deliver our intent consistently each day. We aim to implement our intent by:

• Having clear curriculum leadership and ownership that ensures a clear progression in skills and knowledge across the Geography curriculum covering:
• Locational and Place Knowledge
• Fieldwork
• Use of basic geographical vocabulary
• Using globes, maps and plans
• Map work skills
• Human and physical geography: enquiry skills and communication
• Having clear progression of knowledge and skills throughout each year and key stages
• Providing a sequence of lessons planned to provide skills and knowledge sequenced through the years to maximise learning
• Providing high quality teaching that ensures that all pupils gain knowledge and skills appropriate for their age and have high expectations for progress.
• Providing a clear system for monitoring, evaluation and review
• Ensuring that the local area is fully utilised to develop geographical skills and provide opportunities for learning outside the classroom

• Providing opportunities for first-hand experience to enhance children’s understanding of the local area and a broad range of resources and experiences to develop their understanding of the wider world.
• Teaching Geography as a discrete subject, with 3 units of work in each year group

• Ensuring knowledge is built upon and consolidated to support retention and is clearly outlined on Knowledge Organisers
• Having an assessment system that informs planning and embed knowledge into long term memory
• Making clear links to previous learning
• Selecting teaching materials to reflect the curriculum intent

Our pupils will be able to use their curiosity and critical thinking skills in a variety of contexts and will be able to make informed decisions about a range of global and local issues.

Progress towards these aims will be measured through lesson observations, learning walks, book scrutiny and pupil voice.

Because learning is a change to long term memory, we understand that impact needs to be assessed regularly and frequently over the long term. At Dee Point, children are assessed during every lesson, and at key points throughout their learning journey.

We measure the impact of our curriculum by:

• Assessing children’s knowledge through low-stakes quizzes and regular retrieval opportunities
• Ensuring all SEND and vulnerable groups make good progress from their starting points
• Regularly engaging in Pupil Voice discussions, where children show enjoyment of Geography and are able to recall their learning over time
• Ensuring children are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in Geography using subject specific vocabulary
• Encouraging children to show a wide range of ambitions, aspirations and interests and the belief that they can achieve these
• Preparing children well for their next steps in life
• Helping children to become happy, well-rounded individuals who show care and consideration for the community around them and beyond