Geography

Geography Leader: Mrs Marsden (Hinchliffe Mill School)

Aspirational: We believe that every child has the potential to achieve a profound understanding of geography. Our Geography programme is designed to inspire ambition and set high expectations for our learners. We encourage our pupils to explore the depths of geographical knowledge and provide them with the tools and support they need to reach their aspirations in understanding and appreciating the diverse landscapes, cultures, and environments that shape our world.

Adventurous: Geography is an adventure waiting to be explored. We encourage our pupils to embrace the challenge of discovering various regions, ecosystems, and cultures. We foster a sense of curiosity and a willingness to take risks in their educational journey, encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones and explore the uncharted territories of our planet.

Creative: Geography is not a rigid set of maps and data but a playground for creative thinking. We promote an environment where pupils can express their creativity through exploring and understanding different geographical phenomena and human-environment interactions. We believe that there are multiple pathways to understanding complex geographical concepts, and we encourage our pupils to explore these diverse approaches.

Resilient: The path to understanding geography is often filled with challenges. We teach our pupils the importance of resilience and persistence in the face of these challenges. We believe that encountering and overcoming misunderstandings and difficulties is a valuable part of the learning process, and we encourage our pupils to view setbacks as opportunities for growth.

Respectful: Geography fosters respect for the diverse cultures, environments, and ecosystems of our world. We teach our pupils to approach geographical studies with respect, both for the subject itself and for their fellow learners. We value collaboration, teamwork, and a respectful exchange of ideas in our Geography community.

Independent: We empower our pupils to become independent thinkers and learners. We provide them with the skills and knowledge to explore and understand geographical concepts and issues on their own, instilling confidence in their abilities and fostering a sense of self-reliance.

Our vision is to cultivate learners who are not only knowledgeable about geography but who also embody these values. We aim to develop learners who are aspirational in their understanding of the world, adventurous in their exploration of different places, creative in their interpretations, resilient in the face of challenges, respectful of diverse cultures and environments, and independent thinkers who are well-prepared for a future where geographical literacy and sensitivity to global issues are essential.

Through these values, we aspire to equip our pupils with the confidence and competence necessary to excel in the 21st century and make a positive impact on the world by fostering understanding and respect for all.

Implementation

Long Term Plans

Welcome to the world of Geography at Holme Junior and Infant School, where our long-term overviews have been meticulously crafted to bring the richness and diversity of global environments, cultures, and landscapes to every child.

Based on the National Curriculum, our plans emphasise thematic pathways that cover essential geographical concepts:

• Locational Knowledge: Exploring the world’s countries, continents, and oceans, understanding their locations, and how they relate to each other.
• Place Knowledge: Understanding the characteristics and features of different places around the world, comparing and contrasting various regions and their cultures.
• Human and Physical Geography: Investigating the processes that shape the natural world, the human impact on the environment, and how physical and human processes interact.
• Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Developing practical skills in map reading, data collection, and fieldwork techniques to investigate geographical questions.

Carefully sequenced, we have paired our 'big questions' with these thematic pathways to meet the structure of our complex mixed-age classes. Our thematic pathways are revisited throughout a child's school life, with substantive knowledge (big questions) continually developed through age-appropriate disciplinary knowledge outlined in the Medium Term Plans.

We run a two-year rolling cycle in Class 1 to accommodate our EYFS-KS1 children and a four-year rolling cycle in Class 2 to cover years 3-6. These long-term plans serve as a guide for teachers, allowing flexibility to ensure full coverage of topics and learning objectives while adapting to the dynamic nature of school life.

Medium Term Plans

Designed with precision, these plans take small, purposeful steps to create a coherent and logical progression through the world of geography. Mapped out is the disciplinary knowledge amongst key phases to ensure that all outcomes from each lesson are age-appropriate, fostering collaboration and enhancing the learning experience.

The pathways ensure a coherent and sequential learning experience, building a rich and profound knowledge of geographical concepts and perspectives. Our medium-term plans are designed as a guide for teachers, allowing them the discretion to ensure comprehensive coverage of topics and learning objectives while accommodating the dynamic nature of school life. We recognise that flexibility is essential to fully meet the curriculum, and our teachers are trusted to adapt their lessons to best serve their pupils' needs.

As your child engages with our medium-term plans, they embark on a collaborative and empowering educational journey, building confidence, deepening understanding, and developing a genuine respect for the diversity of the world's environments and cultures. Welcome to a place where every small step is a purposeful stride toward geographical literacy and sensitivity at Holme Junior and Infant School.

MEDIUM TERM PLANS COMING SOON!  

Impact

We assess pupils' skills and knowledge against our own curriculum design, ensuring clarity in what and how pupils are learning on a day-to-day basis.

To measure the impact of our teaching and learning for each child, we focus on three key areas of assessment:

• Substantive Knowledge: What do they know and understand about geographical locations, features, and processes?
• Disciplinary Knowledge: What skills have they learned in exploring geographical concepts and practices?
• Personal Knowledge: How has the study of geography shaped their personal views and understanding of the world?

Each unit of work is developed through careful curriculum planning, allowing pupils to make progress through key stages of learning:

• Understand locational knowledge: Grasp the geographical layout of the world, including continents, countries, and major physical features.
• Explore place knowledge: Compare and contrast the physical and human characteristics of different places around the globe.
• Gain human and physical geography insights: Understand the processes that shape the physical environment and how human activity interacts with these processes.
• Develop geographical skills and fieldwork: Learn to use maps, atlases, and digital tools, and conduct fieldwork to gather, analyse, and present geographical data.

As pupils advance through these stages, teachers conduct day-to-day formative assessments to build a comprehensive picture of each pupil's progress.

At the end of each unit, teachers make a summative assessment based on these key stages. Our exemplar planning, supporting the National Curriculum, uses a mastery model including:

• Expected Standard: Pupils meeting the expected level of understanding and skill.
• Working Towards the Expected Standard: Pupils developing towards the expected level.
• Working Deeper Within the Expected Standard: Pupils exceeding the expected level with deeper understanding and skills.

This model helps in reporting progress and achievement to the next teacher or key stage. At Holme Junior and Infant School, we monitor and track pupil progress in Geography by using our assessment spreadsheet at the end of each lesson. Our spreadsheet outlines key assessment statements from the lessons outlined on Medium Term Plans.

This spreadsheet includes the assessing pupils' progress statements from each of our Geography lessons and provides space to enter teacher assessments for each pupil. The spreadsheet calculates what percentage of lessons each pupil was Working Towards, Expected Standard, or Greater Depth. It will also show for each lesson what percentage of pupils were Working Towards, Expected Standard, or Greater Depth to inform teachers of their next steps in our children's learning.

ASSESSMENT SPREADSHEETS COMING SOON!

Through this structured approach, we ensure that every child at Holme Junior and Infant School experiences a meaningful and impactful geographical education, tailored to their individual learning journey.