Geography 

Mission Statement

 

Live and Learn with Jesus.

We follow Jesus through these values; love, fairness, happiness,

kindness and friendship.

 

Geography Subject Leader- Miss B Bailey

Humanities team 

Intent

Our aim in Geography is for every child to develop an appreciation and fascination of the world in which they live both on a local and global level. Furthermore, to grow in understanding and wonder of the people with whom they share their amazing planet with.

 

Our children will explore a range of places in both Britain, Europe and the wider world to gain a greater knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes. We strive to equip our children with the skills they need to confidently make links and connections between the natural world and the human activity that takes place in it.

 

Implementation

The curriculum that we implement will ensure that all of our pupils will be taught the following:

 

In EYFS and Key Stage 1

To recognise aspects within their local environment, e.g. a tree in the school grounds.

To identify – for example distinguishing something or someone from others that may be similar.

To describe – give an account in words of something or someone e.g. the events leading up to the sinking of the Titanic

To observe – identify and distinguish with a degree of analysis some things that may potentially be more noteworthy or important than others for example, the size and relationship of the continents.

To select – decide upon and choose that information considered most suitable or relevant to answer a question e.g. from a range of eight possibilities, select three factors more likely than the others to have caused the Great Fire of London to spread so quickly.

To categorise / classify – arrange information into particular groups according to shared qualities or characteristics e.g. categorising the human features of the school.

To sequence – place a set of related events or things that follow each other into an order e.g. life cycles.

To compare and contrast – Find similarities and differences e.g. between the geography of the local area of the pupil’s school and that of the immediate environment surround a similar sized school in Kenya.

To recall – to remember and recount something learned or experienced e.g. how a local river changes from its source to mouth.

To reason / speculate – Thinking and forming ideas about something without necessarily firm evidence yet to back it up e.g. why earthquakes are generally more hazardous to people around the world than volcanoes?

 

In Key Stage Two

To summarise – outline or sum up briefly the main points about something e.g. how Fair Trade works.

To synthesise – bring together a range of ides and facts from different sources to develop an explanation for something e.g. the deforestation of tropical rainforests.

To explain – demonstrate understanding and comprehension of how or why something is the way it is e.g., why most of the great stone cities of the Maya were abandoned by AD 900.

To empathise – to place oneself impartially in another’s position to better understand their motives, decisions and actions (even if they are not shared values) from their perspective e.g. flooding in local areas.

Informed conclusion – a knowledgeable summing up of the main points or issues about something e.g., why there are increasing numbers of wind and solar farms to be seen in Britain.

Reasoned judgement – a personal view or opinion about something supported by factual evidence e.g. an argument for banning all single use plastic.

Justify – to give reasons to show or prove what you feel to be right or reasonable e.g. why or what should be done to reduce water us by people in the UK.

Apply – to transfer knowledge and/or skills learned in one context to a different context e.g. awareness that the process of river erosion is the same as the erosion of coastal cliffs.

Evaluate – to weigh up and judge the relative importance of something in relation to counter ideas and arguments e.g. the costs and benefits of planting many trees in Britain.

Critique – to review and examine something critically particularly to gain an awareness of its limitations as evidence e.g. why might the imagery on a website promoting a location as a holiday destination, not be entirely reliable?

Hypothesise – to come up with an idea, question or theory that can be investigated to see whether it has any validity e.g. that ice sheets could be towed from Antarctica to reduce water shortages in South Africa.

 

Impact

At the end of their time at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Leigh, our pupils will be young geographers who have:

  • An inquisitive interest in their surroundings and in the variety of human and physical conditions of the Earth.
  • A sense of wonder and awe of the beautiful world around them.
  • A growing sense of responsibility to care for the world in which they live in for themselves and generations to come.
  • The skills to understand information and interpret it through asking and answering geographical questions.
  • Develop the fieldwork skills to further their knowledge and understanding of the world, especially their immediate locA sense of understanding about how we are interconnected and interdependent with other people and ecosystems around the world.

 

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