Subject Statement – Intent, Implementation and Impact

Subject: Geography

Subject Lead: Ms Pretty  

Intent:

Our Core Values:  Fulfilment, Curiosity, Compassion, Kindness, Honesty, Problem-solving

These underpin our Geography curriculum.

At Victoria Junior School, we seek to inspire in our children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, which will remain with them for the rest of their lives;

Our intent is that the Geography curriculum will enable the children to have first-hand experiences of the world, to learn how to draw and interpret maps, develop the skills of research, investigation, analysis and problem-solving. Through their growing knowledge and understanding of human Geography, children will gain an appreciation of life in other cultures, which reflects the cultural and cognitive diversity of our school community. Geography teaching also motivates children to learn about the physical world, the importance of sustainable development and promote key British values such as; appreciating diversity and promoting tolerance within local and wider communities. We want our pupils to feel kindness and compassion for our ever-changing world and its people and to take this philosophy with them into their next stages of learning and beyond.

Implementation

We deliver our Geography curriculum through projects and use the Cornerstones Curriculum to support our planning and teacher subject knowledge. These projects are built around essential knowledge, understanding and the key skills of Geography. These are broken into year-group expectations and show clear continuity and progress. In accordance with the National Curriculum’s expectations, the aims of teaching Geography in our school are:

• To inspire pupils’ curiosity to discover more about the world.

• To enable children to know about the location of the world’s continents, countries, cities, seas and oceans.

• To develop in children the skills of interpreting a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

• To help children understand how the human and physical features of a place shape its location and can change over time.

• To provide opportunities to collect, analyse and communicate data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes

Children at Victoria Junior School enjoy first-hand opportunities to explore and investigate our rich and diverse geographical area. Teachers are encouraged to consider opportunities to use the school grounds and the local area for fieldwork to enable children to base learning on first-hand experiences and develop a real sense of who they are and what makes our local area unique and special.

 Impact

Children will have developed the Geographical knowledge and skills to help them explore, navigate and understand the world around them and their place in it. Children’s knowledge and skills will develop progressively as they move through the school, not only to enable them to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum but to prepare them to become competent Geographers in secondary education and beyond. The impact of our Geography curriculum can be seen in our children’s books, images of children’s practical learning and through pupil voice about their learning.