St Thomas More Primary Geography Curriculum
The geography curriculum of St. Thomas More has been developed to:
- Build pupil identity and sense of place by knowing ‘where’s where’.
- Embed data collection, analysis and presentation through fieldwork which is repeatedly practised to increase fluency and accuracy.
- Develop a secure prior knowledge which allows for pupils to efficiently carrying out enquiries and make decisions
- Increase knowledge of physical and human processes by supporting a pupil’s ability to describe and explain a variety of environments.
- Ensure pupils receive the knowledge they need to develop their understanding of place. This helps them to draw links between different elements of geography and provide a variety of perspectives to view the curriculum content being studied. Statement of Intent At St Thomas More, we aim to develop the interests of pupils so they have a deep understanding of their local environment and the diverse surroundings in the wider world. Our geography curriculum intends to inspire a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people. It will equip pupils with an understanding of diverse places, people, resources and environments around them and will allow them to build on prior learning about physical and human processes. In addition, it will develop an understanding of how the earth’s features are interconnected and change over time. As a result, it will encourage exploration of pupils’ own environment and will challenge pupils to make connections between their local surroundings and that of contrasting settlements. Overall, pupils will use their local area and community to develop geographical skills and knowledge.
We will achieve this by:
- A regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review and the celebration of good practice will contribute to the ongoing commitment to evolve and further improve our geography curriculum.
Early Years Foundation Stage:
- Geography is implemented through one of the seven areas of learning known as Understanding the World.
- Learn to investigate similarities and differences, the local environment and cultures and beliefs, fostering the skills essential to developing geographical understanding.
- Observe, find out about, and identify features in the place they live and the natural world.
- Begin to know about their own culture and beliefs of other people.
- Look closely at similarities and differences in relation to places.
- Find out about their own immediate environment, talk about those features they like and dislike.
- Explore how environments might vary from one another.
Key Stage 1 and 2:
The teaching, learning and sequencing of the geography curriculum is as follows:
- A geography progression of skills that is organised into four main themes:
- Geographical and skills fieldwork,
- Locational knowledge,
- Human and physical, and
- Place knowledge for each year group.
- Each theme will be taught explicitly through exciting topics, including links to other areas of the curriculum.
- Fieldwork to allow pupils to explore their local area.
- Global Goals, SMSC and P4C are threaded through the geography curriculum to link pupils to their local environment and the diverse surroundings in the wider world.
As a result of our geography curriculum our children will:
- Explore the outdoor learning environments, both within the school grounds and local community.
- Pupils in Early Years Foundation Stage will develop the essential skills and geographical understanding which will ensure a firm foundation for Key Stage 1 geography.
- Clear progression of skills across Key Stage 1 and 2 that builds on prior knowledge that can be demonstrated in books.
- Be confident geographers and be able to clearly discuss their learning from past and current topics, as well as explain their next steps.
- Out-of-class opportunities ensure geography is ongoing and embedded through Eco Warriors which teaches pupils the importance of taking responsibility for looking after their environment.
