Geography

Geography Intent

Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. At Hormead, we seek to inspire in all children, a curiosity and fascination about the World and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We will promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places and people; where people live and what their lives are like. Our curriculum will teach children about physical and human processes and the formation and use of landscapes, enabling the children to understand processes and natural events that have shaped our planet, as well as an understanding of the impact of humans on our Earth.

Children will work as geographers: collecting and analysing data; using maps, globes, aerial photographs and digital mapping to name and identify countries, continents and oceans; and communicating information in a variety of ways. 

Our curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferrable, throughout their time at Hormead, from fundamental perceptions of the World in EYFS, to understanding the wider World in Key Stages 1 and 2, and in preparing pupils for further education and beyond. They are supported in applying their geographical skills and knowledge to their role as responsible citizens of the world.
 

Geography Implementation

At Hormead, we have chosen to use 'Kapow Geography’ as our inspiration for planning sequential lessons where children build their skills and knowledge within the four strands of Geography.

• Locational Knowledge

• Place Knowledge

• Human and physical geography

• Geographical skills and fieldwork

Essential knowledge and skills are revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Locational knowledge, in particular, will be 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. Our enquiry questions form the basis for our Key stage 1 and 2 units, meaning that pupils gain a solid understanding of geographical knowledge and skills by applying them to answer enquiry questions. These are open-ended with no preconceived answers and therefore are purposeful and engage pupils in generating a 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. At Hormead we 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 and various formats.

Hormead is a small rural school surrounded by farmers fields and close to the River Rib. Due to our location we are able to carry out small scale fieldwork on the school grounds and surrounding areas as well as 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.

Knowledge organisers are created for each unit to support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary which are referred to throughout each lesson. Here are a couple of examples of Knowledge organisers for each year group.

Geography Impact

When our children leave us in year 4, we want them to have developed a range of skills and knowledge to study Geography with confidence when they move to middle school and into Key Stage 3. At Hormead, 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 features of the world. By the time the children leave us, they will be able to:

• 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 our globe creates positioning, including latitude, longitude, the hemispheres, the tropics and how time zones work, including night and day.