Intent

At Richard Coates we believe that Geography is fundamental to our understanding and appreciation of the world and helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. Through our teaching, we aim to inspire our children’s curiosity and fascination, develop and deepen their geographical knowledge and skills as well as promote the importance of caring for the Earth and its people.

Children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. The geography curriculum at Richard Coates enables children to develop their knowledge about their locality as well as global knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas which can and are used to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills.

The curriculum is designed to ensure that 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 through the school, their growing knowledge about the world helps 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 and skills are progressive and are sequenced to provide the framework and approaches that provide explanation of how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

We encourage children to understand their impact on the world and to develop a proactive attitude to caring for our planet as well as a desire to continue learning about its endless geographical wonders.We challenge their thinking and enable our children to make rational and just decisions, thinking about their own place within the world, their values, their rights and their responsibilities to other people and the environment. Global themes are carefully embedded into our geography curriculum to ensure our pupils have a detailed knowledge of relevant issues but are also empowered to take action and make a difference to the world they live in, becoming good global neighbours and courageous advocates.

We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives, equipping them well for further education and beyond. Through our curriculum, they develop a rich cultural capital and become socially aware, confident and reflective young citizens of the world.

Implementation

Geography at Richard Coates CE Primary School is taught in blocks throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in their learning. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each blocked topic and these are mapped across the school, ensuring that knowledge builds progressively and that children develop skills systematically. Existing knowledge is checked at the beginning of each topic to ensure that teaching is informed by the children’s starting points. Great importance is placed on learning geographical vocabulary and deepening children's knowledge and understanding of concepts they are taught. Tasks are selected and designed to provide appropriate challenges to all learners, in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. Teachers are highly skilled at using assessment for learning to identify misconceptions and gaps in learning which informs planning.  At the end of each topic, key knowledge is reviewed by the children and rigorously checked by the teacher and consolidated as necessary. Pupil’s learning is assessed formatively at the end of each unit of work through a range of strategies and next steps are identified to inform future planning.

Through our curriculum implementation we place an emphasis on practical activities and fieldwork and value the importance of using real places, real experiences and real issues to make geography ‘come alive.’ Children have the opportunity to use a wide variety of resources including the outdoor environment, globes, atlases, maps, plans, aerial photos, computing equipment and software. Visits take place regularly throughout the year and children also have the opportunity to take part in residentials upper Key Stage 2.

The Geography provision is also well resourced and specific resources and texts are identified for each geography topic to support effective teaching and learning. The local area is fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with extensive opportunities for fieldwork skills and learning outside the classroom embedded in practice.

Impact

The Geography curriculum at Richard Coates is engaging and inspiring and promotes high standards of teaching and learning. Learning is relevant, progressive and engaging and supports the development of deep knowledge and skills to ensure all our pupils, as geographers, achieve their full potential and are ready for the next stage of their education.

Pupil voice demonstrates high levels of engagement and enthusiasm for geography and our curriculum. Pupils' work shows evidence of a broad and balanced geography curriculum and demonstrates children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge relating to each of the identified national curriculum strands, as appropriate to key stage; locational knowledge, place knowledge and human and physical geography. This is in addition to the development and application of key skills, supported by fieldwork.

As children progress throughout the school, they develop a deep knowledge, understanding an appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context. Children learn about global themes and issues and understand how they can make a difference in the world in which they live.Pupils also learn about careers related to geography and this further ensures that they are well prepared for the next steps of their education.