Intent
Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all pupils, regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to let their light shine to become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be.
Geography is essentially about understanding the world we live in. Our geography curriculum plans to enable pupils to develop a range of investigation and problem-solving skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can be used to promote pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development along with our school values of love, compassion, trust and friendship.
Our intent, when teaching geography, is to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, to promote the pupil’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments which will remain with them for the rest of their lives, so that they can take an active part in contributing to and protecting this world as they grow up.
Implementation
Geography at Tritlington is taught in blocks throughout the year. We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise depth of learning for all pupils. Teachers are trialling the “Collins Connected Geography” enquiry based plans and resources.
Existing knowledge is checked at the beginning of each topic as part of the KWL strategy (What I Know, What I would like to Know and What I have Learned). This ensures that teaching is informed by the pupil’s starting points and that it takes account of pupil voice, incorporating pupil’s interests.
Tasks are selected and designed to provide appropriate challenge to all learners, in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. To reinforce understanding, we use “Flashback” activities and purposeful recapping to ensure the retention of information and skills and to assess this understanding purposefully. At the end of each topic, key knowledge is reviewed by the pupils and rigorously checked by the teacher and consolidated as necessary.
Cross curricular outcomes in geography are specifically planned for and these are indicated on the whole school Geography Knowledge and Skills Progression Map. The Geography provision is also well resourced and specific resources are mapped to specific year groups and topics to support effective teaching and learning. The local area is fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice. School trips and fieldwork are provided to give first hand experiences, which enhance pupil’s understanding of the world beyond their locality.
Impact
At Tritlington we continuously develop and grow our geography curriculum and expertise. We monitor and evaluate the impact of our curriculum, teaching practices and the pupil’s progress.
An action plan is written each year which is agreed upon by our Geography lead and teaching staff, which we all work towards collaboratively, ensuring geography within our school continues to develop.
Through supportive and progression-focused learning walks, our Geography lead is able to observe the implementation of the school’s curriculum and identify both areas of strength and areas of development to inform our next steps in geography. Pupils are encouraged to talk about their learning in geography both inside and outside of the classroom, making links across other areas of the wider curriculum.
We set high expectations and pupils present their learning purposefully and to a high standard in a variety of ways so evidence of progress and high quality learning is clear. Our books and regular discussion with pupils evidence our pupil’s competency and confidence to communicate their geographical skills and knowledge in a variety of ways. Through collaborative book moderation and teacher discussion, teachers are able to ensure consistency in geography across the school and seek to develop our next steps in our continuous progress in the subject area.
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