INTENT - BECOMING A GEOGRAPHER
At Fernvale, we aim to offer a high-quality geography education which inspires in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teachers equip 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, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
IMPLEMENTATION
We have 4 core strands that run through our geography curriculum. Each strand has a progression in knowledge and skills, detailed in this document, that link the topic areas together. EYFS teach Geography through mathematics and ‘Understanding the World’.
We use the scheme My Rising Stars which teaches the 4 key concepts through its units of work. Each unit will have a key concept as its focus but will always incorporate others.
- Locational Knowledge
- Place Knowledge
- Human and Physical Geography
- Geographical Skills and Fieldwork
My Rising Stars Geography is a complete curriculum programme for primary geography which provides 18 half-termly units of work to interest pupils and encourage curiosity about their own locality and the wider world. It offers complete coverage of the Programme of Study for Geography (2014) and the criteria of the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (2019).
From starting points suitable for all, pupils develop to tackle appropriate challenges. The units have key questions to encourage the use of geographical enquiry, as well as a focus on the acquisition and application of key subject knowledge, concepts and vocabulary throughout. Skills, knowledge and understanding in geography progress through Year 1 to Year 6, being taught, developed and applied throughout the schemes of work.
A range of opportunities are provided to enable all pupils to communicate their knowledge and understanding of the subject. Links are made within and across units to support pupils in making connections. Rising Stars Geography offers complete coverage of the National Curriculum Programme of Study for the Geography (2014)
Geography is taught in termly blocks alongside History, this enable children to focus on either Geography or History within a term.
Geography Fieldwork:
"Geographical fieldwork provides students with experiences that are intrinsically valuable, but detailed planning can ensure they maximise the wide-ranging education benefits from such activities."
Holmes and Walker, 2006
The national curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
- collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes.
KS1 geographical skills and fieldwork
- use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
KS2 geographical skills and fieldwork
- use fieldwork to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical features in a local area using a range of methods including sketch maps, plans and graphs and digital technologies.