‘The study of geography is about more than just memorizing places on a map. It's about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents, and in the end, it's about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.’

Barack Obama

 

INTENT

At Barnburgh Primary Academy, we aim to enable pupils to become curious and reflective learners, who are able to produce thought-provoking ideas and find answers to their own questions, through exploration and research. We want our pupils to investigate a wide range of places, both in Britain and across the world, which will help enhance their knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes. Geography will clearly contribute towards this, developing a curiosity and fascination within the children about the world around them and its people – including their local area of Barnburgh and South Yorkshire. This is a curiosity which we hope will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Our Core Values provide the platform on which we have built our curriculum offer at Barnburgh Primary Academy. Our Geography curriculum is underpinned by our core values in the following ways;

 

COURAGE

• To develop the ability to apply geographical skills and be able to confidently communicate their findings and a geographical understanding to a range of audiences.

PERSEVERANCE

• To develop the ability to stick with something, to continue working, to try harder, to not give up.

AMBITION

• To develop a desire to gain a greater understanding and knowledge of the world and their place in it.

RESPECT

• To respect equipment used in Geography lessons.
• To respect the geography work of others, including their peers.
• To develop an interest and an understanding of diverse places, people and resources.

INDEPENDENCE

• To develop confident geographers, who are not afraid to ‘have a go’.
• To develop geographers who have the confidence to think and work independently.
• To develop geographers who are able to independently interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including: maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

 

BEYOND THE SUBJECT

We want our Geography curriculum to help children to;

• See the world from different perspectives
• Recognise the importance of outdoor learning and build a curiosity for learning
• Increase their empathy
• Observe and look closer at the world around them
• See connections in the world

 

 

IMPLEMENTATION

Our Geography curriculum has been designed to cover all of the skills set out in the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum states that ‘pupils should develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality’ and ‘should extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.’

 

Our Geography curriculum has been structured in a cross-curricular way, to effectively facilitate this and to provide children with the opportunities to enhance their knowledge and understanding of their local area, and the world around them. For each year group, one term in the school year will have a ‘humanities’ focus, with Geography being at the forefront of the children’s learning during some of this time. Geography will also then be covered within class topics throughout the year, linking with other curriculum areas. When covering the ‘humanities’ topics, children will spend a large amount of time learning as geographers and will learn about significant places, people and events that link to Geography, as well as the aspects of the National Curriculum. During transition week at the end of each year, each year group will focus on a specific aspect of the history of the local area – linking in some areas, to the geography of their local area.

At Barnburgh Primary Academy, each of our geographers has their own geography book, in which they record ideas, practice new techniques and refine their skills in. These books give our geographers the opportunity to record their geographical skills and findings, and will show how they build on these skills throughout their time at primary school. School trips and residentials are facilitated where appropriate to enhance the pupils’ understanding and skills further.

 

 

IMPACT

Due to the nature of this curriculum area, Geography monitoring takes various forms. A key component of this is pupil voice. School leaders use pupil voice as an effective tool to ascertain the pupils’ ability to express themselves through a range of different mediums. Geography book monitoring throughout all year groups also takes place once a term to compliment this, allowing leaders to ensure our geographers have the opportunity to develop their skills fully and showcase their knowledge. Examples of our geographers’ work is exhibited throughout the school, both on classroom and communal displays.

Please find the geography progression document below. This is a working document.