Intent (What is our Geography curriculum?)
Geography is about understanding the complex world that we live in. It helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world.
At Haddenham Junior School, pupils gain an appreciation and understanding of other cultures and environments and learn about their values, rights and responsibilities towards other people and the environment.
We aim to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words to think like a geographer.
Our intent when teaching Geography is to inspire a curiosity and fascination of the world and the 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.
We encourage pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings.
We have selected Kapow as our chosen Geography curriculum (See overview information document above).
Through Kapow’s Primary Geography scheme of work we aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time. We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.
We encourage:
• A strong focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge.
• Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and
analyse evidence.
• The development of fieldwork skills across each year group.
• A deep interest and knowledge of pupils’ locality and how it differs from other
areas of the world.
• A growing understanding of geographical concepts, terms and vocabulary.
Kapow Primary’s Geography scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum. Its aims also align with those of the National curriculum.
Implementation (How do we deliver the curriculum?)
At Haddenham Junior school our Geography curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability or additional needs to flourish to become the very best version of themselves and seeks to inspire a sense of curiosity about the world around them.
The children are taught through a range of activities and experiences that takes account of their abilities, aptitudes, and physical, emotional and intellectual development. Through Geography, the children learn a range of skills, concepts, attitudes, and methods of working.
At Haddenham Junior School, Geography and History units are taught alternatively each half-term and in Lower and Upper Key stage 2 classes.
The Kapow Primary Scheme is used to plan and teach Geography sessions, ensuring full coverage of content of the National Curriculum. Each session identifies clearly the skills and knowledge to be taught which enables progression, both throughout the year, as well as throughout the school.
The National curriculum organises the Geography attainment targets under four strands:
• Locational knowledge
• Place knowledge
• Human and physical geography
• Geographical skills and fieldwork
Kapow Primary’s Geography scheme has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these four strands across each year group. In addition, it is a spiral curriculum, with essential knowledge and skills revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Locational knowledge, in particular, is reviewed in each unit to coincide with our belief that this will consolidate children’s understanding of key concepts, such as scale and place, in Geography.
Cross-curricular links are included throughout each unit, allowing children to make connections and apply their Geography skills to other areas of learning. The enquiry questions form the basis for the Key stage 2 units, meaning that pupils gain a solid understanding of geographical knowledge and skills by applying them to answer enquiry questions.
These questions have been designed to be open-ended with no preconceived answers and therefore they are genuinely purposeful and engage pupils in generating real change. In attempting to answer them, children learn how to collect, interpret and represent data using geographical methodologies and make informed decisions by applying their geographical knowledge.
Each unit contains elements of geographical skills and fieldwork to ensure that fieldwork skills are practised as often as possible. Kapow Primary units follow an enquiry cycle that maps out the fieldwork process of question, observe, measure, record, and present, to reflect the elements mentioned in the National curriculum. This ensures children will learn how to decide on an area of enquiry, plan to measure data using a range of methods, capture the data and present it to a range of appropriate stakeholders in various formats.
At Haddenham Junior School, we use our Local Area wherever possible, to enable children to build a picture of their own environment, a sense of place, along with a developing knowledge of where the area fits in within the UK as a whole and the wider world.
Fieldwork also includes smaller opportunities on the school grounds to larger-scale visits to investigate physical and human features. Developing fieldwork skills within the school environment and revisiting them in multiple units enables pupils to consolidate their understanding of various methods. It also gives children the confidence to evaluate methodologies without always having to leave the school grounds and do so within the confines of a familiar place. This makes fieldwork regular and accessible while giving children a thorough understanding of their locality, providing a solid foundation when comparing it with other places.
Lessons incorporate various teaching strategies from independent tasks to paired and group work, including practical hands-on, computer-based and collaborative tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Each lesson provides guidance for teachers on how to adapt their teaching to ensure that all pupils can access learning, and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are also available if required. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
To further enrich our teaching we use a variety of digital technologies and applications including Digimaps for Schools to develop pupils’ understanding and IT skills. Pupils are encouraged to carry out further research using our library facilities and school assemblies and displays are used to raise an awareness of Geography around the school.
Impact (How do we measure attainment?)
At Haddenham Junior School we use an enquiry-based approach to learning which allows teachers to assess children against the National curriculum expectations for Geography. The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities.
Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher, which can be used at the start and/or end of the unit to assess children’s understanding. Opportunities for children to present their findings using their geographical skills also forms part of the assessment process in each unit.
Pupils should leave Haddenham Junior school equipped with a range of skills and knowledge to enable them to study Geography with confidence at Key stage 3. We hope to shape children into curious and inspired geographers with respect and appreciation for the world around them alongside an understanding of the interconnection between the human and the physical.
The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary Geography scheme of work is that children will:
● Compare and contrast human and physical features to describe and understand similarities and differences between various places in the UK, Europe and the Americas.
● Name, locate and understand where and why the physical elements of our world are located and how they interact, including processes over time relating to climate, biomes, natural disasters and the water cycle.
● Understand how humans use the land for economic and trading purposes, including how the distribution of natural resources has shaped this.
● Develop an appreciation for how humans are impacted by and have evolved around the physical geography surrounding them and how humans have had an impact on the environment, both positive and negative.
● Develop a sense of location and place around the UK and some areas of the wider world using the eight-points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and keys on maps, globes, atlases, aerial photographs and digital mapping.
● Identify and understand how various elements of our globe create positioning, including latitude, longitude, the hemispheres, the tropics and how time zones work, including night and day.
● Present and answer their own geographical enquiries using planned and specifically chosen methodologies, collected data and digital technologies.
● Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Geography by the end of Year 6.
At Haddenham Community Junior School, assessment for learning is an integral part of the teaching process. Assessment is used to inform planning and to facilitate adaptations. The assessment of children’s work is on-going to ensure that understanding is being achieved and that progress is being made. Feedback is given to the children as soon as possible and marking work is guided by the school’s Marking Policy.
The achievement of Expected level for each year group is evidenced through first-hand observation of how students perform at lesson objective level, drawing on evidence from pupil voice interviews, book scrutiny, observations, assessments, and curriculum reviews. Together, this bank of information allows teachers to assess the children robustly and informatively.
