Geography

What does Geography look like at St Teresa of Lisieux?

Geography is a dynamic, volatile, exciting and restless subject which is rooted in the here and now and change is a constant theme. Part of the challenge and excitement of geography is that we need to continually look at it with fresh eyes. Not that Geography is only concerned with the here and now as Michael Palin famously summarized,

“ Geography explains the past, illuminates the present and prepares us for the future. What could be more important than that?” Michael Palin 2007.

Intent

At St Teresa of Lisieux we offer a structure and sequence of lessons to help teachers ensure they have covered the skills required to meet the aims of the 2014 National Curriculum. The content has a focus on the breadth and balance with four key strands of progression; locational knowledge; place knowledge; human and physical processes and skills, including fieldwork. It will develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places and understanding of the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, along with how they bring about variation and change over time. We intend to develop children’s curiosity and fascination of the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. The units offer a range of opportunities for investigating places around the world as well as the physical and human processes. The lessons are intended to improve children’s geographical vocabulary, map skills and geographical facts and provide opportunities for consolidation, challenge and variety to ensure interest and progress in the subject.

Implementation

In KS1, children begin to use maps and recognise physical features to do with the local area, building to use maps to explore the continents and oceans of the world in Year 2. Further, in year 2, children will begin to compare where they live to places outside of Europe and ask and answer geographical questions. In KS2, map skills are developed further using digital maps; more detailed keys and symbols; using more forensic fieldwork skills. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills and challenge. All children, through adaptive teaching where necessary, are able to expand on their skills in local knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, geographical skills and fieldwork. Across both key stages, children have a range of opportunities to experience geography through practical engaging tasks beyond the classroom.

Impact

We believe that Geography is about curiosity, exploration and discovery. It gives you the power to see places in new ways. Geography also helps you to understand and make sense of the world. All children will use geographical vocabulary accurately and understand the different strands of geography, with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Children will begin to make relevant links from Geography to other curriculum subjects, such as History and science. They will improve their enquiry skills and inquisitiveness about the world around them, as well as their impact on the world. All children will realise that they have choices to make in the world, developing a positive commitment to the environment and the future of the planet. Children will become competent in collecting, analysing and communicating a range of data gathered. They will be able to interpret a range of sources of geographical information and they will communicate geographical information in a variety of ways. All children in the school will be able to speak confidently about their geographical learning, skills and knowledge.

GEOGRAPHY – Journey of a river

We have learned about the Journey a river takes from source to mouth. We worked in small groups to identify the image with the explanation and then organized the facts to show the journey.
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Curriculum Subjects
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