Geography

At Woodthorpe our intent, when teaching Geography, is to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and people within it; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Geography is an investigative subject, which enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferrable to other curriculum areas.

We teach the Early Years Foundation Stage and 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 learning for all children.

By the time children leave Woodthorpe school they will:

• Have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• Have an excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
• Have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Be fluent in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
• Have the ability to reach clear conclusions and develop a reasoned argument to explain findings.
• Have a passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there.
• Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.

Our school follows the National Curriculum Programme of Study for Geography. We have adapted the programme to the local circumstances of our school, i.e. we make use of the local environment in our fieldwork and we also choose a locality where the human activities and physical features provide a contrast to those that predominate in our own immediate area.

Geography is planned as part of and delivered through a range of different schemes that have been selected in a sequence that links previous learning and is progressive for learners.

Each class teacher follows a plan for each lesson. These plans list specific learning objectives and expected outcomes for each lesson. The class teacher keeps these individual plans.

We teach geography in reception classes as an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. As the reception class is part of the Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we relate the geographical aspects of the children’s work to their development towards the appropriate age band for the specific area; Understanding the World, which underpins the curriculum planning for children from birth to five. Geography makes a significant contribution to the development of each child’s knowledge and understanding of the world, through activities such as collecting postcards from different places, being involved in an activity associated with a specific country or thinking about journeys.