GEOGRAPHY

Intent:

At Quinton Primary School, we are committed to providing all children with learning opportunities to engage in Geography.  In short, Geography matters!

Our Geography curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Children investigate a range of places – both in Britain and abroad – to help develop their knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes. We are committed to providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area, Quinton, so that they can develop of real sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special. We are also developing the children’s ability to apply geographical skills to enable to confidently communicate their findings and geographical understanding to a range of audiences.

Through high quality teaching, we develop the following essential characteristics of geographers:  

• An excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like, both in Britain and the wider world;
• An extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary;
• Fluency in geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills, as well as effective presentation techniques;
• The ability to reach conclusions and explain their findings;
• Develop fieldwork skills;
• The ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current issues in society and the environment;
• A genuine sense of curiosity about the world and the people who live here.

Implementation:

At Quinton, it is our aim to ignite a curiosity in the children, to show their creativity and thinking about the world, which will equip them to make their own way in it.  Teachers plan the following:

• A topic based knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) that all children must master and apply during lessons;
• A cycle of lessons for each topic, concentrating on progressing the geographical skills suited to the age group;
• A topic quiz which is carried out regularly.
• Trips and visiting experts to enhance the learning experience where possible;
• Appropriate curriculum themed home learning tasks which children complete if learning remotely.

Impact:

We use a range of strategies to assess what skills and knowledge the children have attained, including:

• Book scrutinies;
• Children review their successes in achieving the lesson GOALS at the end of each session;
• Pupil voice/discussions about their learning;
• Regular topic quizzes;
• Regular questioning and feedback in lessons;
• Subject folder with examples of work;
• School visits where possible.

Ideas to enhance your Geography skills