Overall curriculum
An Daras Multi Academy Trust has used the latest pedagogy, research and understanding of local contextual needs to structure the curriculum design to ensure the growth of capability mature children who exhibit a sustained curiosity for learning. The ‘lived values and experiences’ of pupils are determined by the individual school and should run through all operational elements of curriculum provision.
A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
Pedagogy
Our Geography curriculum focuses on developing our pupils through the acquisition of WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, and SKILLS.
These have been selected because they ensure the whole development of the child will be prioritised, they enable pupils to meet the expectations of the National Curriculum 14 and have ambitions beyond the NC14. Each theme has a set of curriculum tools which ensure it is fully embedded through the lived experiences of staff, children, and stakeholders. Impact scales will measure the effectiveness of curriculum provision on the growth of children within these three equally important themes.
Wisdom
Children’s wisdom is developed in the following ways:
- Taking part in debates linked to the historical themes and concepts studied.
- Using class discussions to explore historical events and perspectives.
- Through learning how to make contributions to topics under discussion – evaluating evidence, justifying opinions.
- Teaching focuses on enabling children to think and investigate as historians Making real and informed choices about learning eg. Why has this event in history been recorded in this way? Are the sources of evidence trustworthy?
- Making connections between key concepts – using prior learning to make and secure these links.
Knowledge
Children’s knowledge is built through:
- Exploring the geographical context and chronology of the unit.
- Establishing an enquiry question.
- Learning key vocabulary and facts about the geographical context from a learning organiser.
- Geography enquiry lessons teaching knowledge and our key concepts, all of which are underpinned by the themes of physical and human geography, location and mapping.
Capabilities
We place an emphasis on using maps, field work and a range of sources, and give children the opportunity to visit places linked to their geographical learning. A variety of teaching approaches are used:
- Teacher presentations, guest speakers, videos, photographs, maps
- Quizzes and questioning
- Discussions and debates
- Individual and group research, investigating sources of evidence
- Fieldwork, visits to geographical sites
- Pupils make use of the facts they have learned, practice enquiry-based skills and make links to previous learning.
- Outcome of the unit. Pupils are able to answer their enquiry question.
Our carefully planned geography curriculum, which is based on the Collins scheme written by David Weatherly but adapted to our local context, provides the opportunity for pupils to review, revisit and develop their learning of a particular learning connection block. Geography forms the basis of our learning connection block for one of the half terms within each half term. For example, all year groups will have the learning connection block, ‘Natural Elements’ in Autumn 2 with each class having a particular focus on a learning concept, e.g. Year 5 – Carbon Footprint. This allows pupils to know more and remember more for each learning connection block.
Geography forms the basis of our learning connection block for one of the half terms within each half term. For example, all year groups will have the learning connection block, ‘Natural Elements’ in Autumn 2 with each class having a particular focus on a learning concept, e.g. Year 5 – Carbon Footprint. This allows pupils to know more and remember more for each learning connection block. Our evolving sustainability curriculum plan has and will continue to have many elements which link to the Geography curriculum.
Teachers will help pupils with SEND to overcome any barriers to participating and learning and make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed to include pupils. To make lessons inclusive, teachers will anticipate what barriers to taking part and learning may pose for pupils with SEND. Some modifications or adjustments will be made or smaller steps to achieve the learning goal. Occasionally, pupils with SEND will have to work on different activities, or towards different learning intentions, from their peers.
In EYFS, all areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. These are stipulated in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’. The most relevant statements for geography are taken from the following areas of learning:
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
Assessment
Assessment is regarded as an integral part of teaching and learning and is a continuous process. There are planned opportunities within the curriculum plan to revisit learning from the current year but also previous year groups.
Formative
All sessions should begin with a recap/recall of previous learning. Teachers should use skilful questioning to gauge starting points, to assess current understanding and knowledge, to ensure concepts have been acquired, to identify misconceptions. This formative assessment should support the teacher in adapting lessons to ensure pupils are learning new learning, building on prior learning, and making links between new and previous learning.
At the end of each session, teachers should use assessment tools to ensure that the intent of the lesson has been achieved, to help plan for the following session and to support building a picture of the pupils’ progress for final summative assessments.
t is the responsibility of the class teacher to assess all pupils in their class, this will be triangulated with marking, TA feedback and pupil self-assessment. Any misconceptions are addressed with immediacy and the impact of targeted teaching reviewed.
Summative
It is the responsibility of the class teacher to assess all pupils in their class. Each child is assessed termly, against the NC criteria and recorded annually on ITrack. Pupils produce an outcome to demonstrate their unit learning. At the end of a whole unit of work, the teacher makes a summary judgement about the work produced.
Reports to parents are given via parent meetings and pupils’ attainment is reported via an annual report.
In EYFS, the level of development children should be expected to have attained by the end of the EYFS is defined by the early learning goals (ELGs). These are not used as a curriculum or in any way to limit the wide variety of rich experiences that are crucial to child development. Instead, the ELGs support teachers to make a holistic, best-fit judgement about a child’s development, and their readiness for year 1.
When assessing pupils with SEND, there will be carefully planned opportunities in order for them to demonstrate what they know and are able to do, using alternative means where necessary. Where a pupil is unable to use particular types of equipment, assessment of attainment will be based on understanding of the processes used as demonstrated through oral and written responses or, where possible, through the use of alternative equipment. The attainment of pupils who require adapted equipment, such as particular switches or voice-activated software, will be assessed using these specialist items.
The monitoring of the standards of children’s learning and the quality of learning and teaching of geography is the shared responsibility of the Senior Leadership Team and the subject leader. The work of the subject leader also involves supporting colleagues in the teaching of geography, being informed about current developments in the subject, and providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school. A named member of the school governing body is briefed to overview the teaching of the curriculum in the school.
Culture
Our high-quality geography curriculum inspires pupils to have a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
Teaching equips pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
Our carefully planned geography curriculum provides the opportunity for pupils to review, revisit and develop their learning of a particular learning connection block.
Geography forms the basis of our learning connection block for one of the half terms within each half term. For example, all year groups will have the learning connection block, ‘Natural Elements’ in Autumn 2 with each class having a particular focus on a learning concept, e.g. Year 5 – Carbon Footprint. This allows pupils to know more and remember more for each learning connection block.
Our evolving sustainability curriculum plan has and will continue to have many elements which link to the Geography curriculum.
Teachers will help pupils with SEND to overcome any barriers to participating and learning and make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed to include pupils. To make lessons inclusive, teachers will anticipate what barriers to taking part and learning may pose for pupils with SEND. Some modifications or adjustments will be made or smaller steps to achieve the learning goal. Occasionally, pupils with SEND will have to work on different activities, or towards different learning intentions, from their peers. For some activities, there may need to be a ‘parallel’ activity for pupils with SEND, so that they can work towards the same learning intentions as their peers, but in a different way. The use of technology to assist learning can removes barrier e.g. Widget, switches, text readers and speech and communicator devices. Using keyboard shortcuts instead of a mouse, enables all pupils to be involved. Generic software, such as Microsoft Office, contains accessibility facilities for SEND pupils. Screen filters may help with glare or using coloured backgrounds e.g. yellow background with blue script for dyslexic learners. Because the range of hardware and software is wide and continually expanding, teachers will always seek to collaborate with the SENDCo or colleagues e.g. previous teacher, on removing barriers to learning and participation for particular pupils with SEND. Pupils will also be able to advise on the technologies that suit them best.
Systems
In EYFS, all areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. These are stipulated in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’. The most relevant statements for geography are taken from the following areas of learning:
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
Reception
Understanding the World
- Draw information from a simple map.
- Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
- Explore the natural world around them.
- Recognise some environments that are different to the one in which they live.
ELG
Understanding the World
People, Culture and Communities
- Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps.
- Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and (when appropriate) maps.
The Natural World
- Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
- Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons.
The National Curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils:
- develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
- understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
- are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.
See the knowledge and skills organiser for geography which demonstrates the progression through the year groups.
Policies/key documents
- Whole School Long term horizontal curriculum map
- Geography Knowledge and Skills organiser
- EYFS Long term overview
- SEND Policy
- Sustainability Plan
All of these can be found on our website under the curriculum/policies tab.