Geography

“Geography is a subject which holds the key to our future.” -  Michael Palin

"Earth is our home in space, a unique speck in the unimaginably vast cosmos and the only planet in our solar system capable of supporting life as we know it. This little blue planet provides us with all our needs as a species.” – Geography Association

Geography Lead - Mrs Rebecca Bateson

Intent

Earth provides us with our needs for today and learning how our actions can influence its future will help children begin to make informed decisions about the way they live their lives now and in the future. We therefore aim to develop the children’s love of the world around them through geography and inspire curiosity and fascination for the planet, and their place in it, for many years to come.

We aim to do this through developing knowledge of the location of globally significant places, including their physical and human characteristics. We also aim to ensure that children understand the geographical processes that bring about physical and human features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about change over time. Whilst observing and studying these, we aim to ensure children are competent in the geographical skills needed to collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork, interpret a range of sources, and communicate geographical information in a variety of ways.

We aim for children to see themselves as geographers through developing key skills.

This starts in the nursery, where children are introduced to map skills through stories and creative play. 

Geography underpins topics and units are planned and presented through a ‘big question’ which encourages an enquiry-based approach. Wherever possible, the school grounds and local area are used for fieldwork to enable children to base learning on first-hand experiences. Children also have a ‘Stunning Start’ to inspire learning and units often involve a visit or an expert to enhance learning as real life-experiences are a key driver of our curriculum.  Community is also important to us at St Dennis Primary Academy, so families are invited to a ‘Fabulous Finish’ to celebrate and share in their children’s learning and successes. 

Stunning Starts include a visit to the woods in Year 1 for their topic of 'What would you use to build a house?', a visit to the local recycling centre in Year 4 for 'What makes St Dennis, St Dennis?' and a visit to a fishing harbour and visit from a local fisherman for the Year 6 topic 'Why is the fishing industry so important to local communities?'

Fieldwork is a key element of our geography curriculum and experiences include exploring the school's locality in Year 1, exploring how the village of St Dennis and its land use has changed over time in Year 4, and exploring the impact the local fishing industry has on a local village in Year 6.

We have a wide range of atlases, Ordnance Survey maps and globes.  We also subscribe to other online resources such as 'Digimap for Schools' to ensure we use a range of high quality and up-to-date maps. We use Oddizzi to support planning and resourcing, as it provides a wide range of up-to-date resources including interactive maps, diagrams, aerial photographs, an online encyclopaedia, virtual postcards, quizzes and short film clips to inspire children. Within every unit, there is a  quiz. 

To support learning, children also have a knowledge organiser in their book and on display with key learning points and maps, diagrams, facts and vocabulary.  They also take one home so they can share their learning at home. These can be found on year groups pages.

Sustainability and the management of the environment is important to us at St Dennis Primary Academy.  Therefore, 'the environment and community' is a key driver of our curriculum because we want our children to have a sense of pride in their local area and understand that the world stretches beyond their immediate doorstep. Also, to develop a sense that their home and the wider world is a wonderful place to live now, and in the future. In addition to the National Curriculum geography learning, we also plan an environmental link to each big questions every half term.

    
At St Dennis, we have an Eco Club that meet every week and discuss issues linked to Eco Schools . In summer 2022 and 2023 we achieved the Green Flag award.  We were so proud as Eco club worked incredibly hard towards this goal.

Together, Eco Club created an action plan based on three chosen topics: school grounds, water and marine. 

They have been instrumental in saving energy across the school and applying for grants to save water. Their work and dedication has resulted in the school achieving the Eco Schools Bronze and Silver Awards. The Eco Council recently discussed their priorities for what they believe should be discussed at the G7 Summit and were interviewed and filmed by BBC Radio Cornwall sharing their ideas for the world’s leaders to listen to. Click here to watch our interviews!

Furthermore, they took part in a local beach clean for the Surfers Against Sewage Million Mile Clean campaign. Previously, Eco Club have focused on reducing the amount of single-use plastic in school , through the introduction of Plastic Free Wednesdays , improving the school grounds by planting trees and saving water through installing and using our new water butts.

This academic year Eco Club are working on keeping the green flag. We have changed two of one of our topics to litter but have kept marine and school grounds. It is going to be an exciting and busy year.

At St Dennis Primary Academy, we understand that building pupils’ knowledge of locations, or ‘where’s where’, helps them build their own identity and sense of place. This is one of the reasons we decided to join up with Joynagar Government Primary School in Bangladesh to become partner schools.

The project is run by the British Council with the primary focus of connecting classrooms through global learning, which links to the UN’s 16 goals for sustainable development.

As a school, we will be taking part in some joint projects with the aim of widening the children’s global perspectives, undoing any stereotypes children may have about life in the developing world. As they might not ever have thought about schools outside of the UK, this work aims to open their eyes to the lives of others. Year 5 and Year 6 have started by taking part in an introduction activity whereby pupils have described a typical school day , their hobbies, what they do at home.

SEND

Our geography curriculum is ambitious for all pupils.  We therefore consider ways of minimising and reducing barriers so that all pupils are included. The areas where we consider varying approaches, adaptations and scaffolds that include maintaining an inclusive learning environment, using multi-sensory approaches (including ICT), working with additional adults, managing peer relationships through particular groupings, using a wide range of recording methods, ensuring clear communication for all needs, and allowing for formative assessment by ensuring learning objectives and outcomes are understood by all children and assessment methods are wide ranging so not reliant on writing ability. At the same time, word and sentence level skills are practised developed through geography which impacts on children's writing achievements.

Impact

Our geography curriculum is high-quality and sequenced to demonstrate progression in knowledge, skills and vocabulary. Children deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and how this affects landscapes and environments.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Formative assessing of on-going learning and children’s understanding of locational and place knowledge, human and physical geography, and how to communicate geographically using technical vocabulary. This takes place before and during a unit through mind maps, KWL grids and quizzes.
• Revisiting previous learning during ‘Memory Master’ time.
• Summative assessment through end of unit Proof of Progress tasks to assess critical knowledge, skills and understanding.
• Images and videos of the children’s practical learning .
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice) with their books.
• Whole class feedback and feedforward of work in books.

How are British Values promoted through geography?

Geography promotes British Values and St Dennis Primary Academy has respect for democracy and the right for all our children to have their voices heard. 

With oracy underpinning the subject, children are actively involved in discussions and are encouraged to express their ideas and opinions whilst showing respect to others. Children explore their own values through debate and discuss how issues, even if they are on the other side of the world, can have vast effects on everyone – this is evident through the Year 4 topic of Rainforests.

The school’s Eco Council representatives are elected by their classmates and this group is supporting the growing understanding and development of sustainability across the school, so we are developing global citizens. Through learning about local industry, children understand about how places, people, cultures and economies are interrelated.

Children also learn about empathising with people whose lives are affected by disasters.  In Year 3 children learn about volcanoes and in Year 6 they build upon this and learn about earthquakes.

SMSC

Spiritual - The study of real people in real places, and our relationship with the environment, is at the heart of the geography curriculum. Therefore, there are many occasions when we give children the opportunity to reflect on their own values and beliefs, and those of others. For example, we give opportunities to think about the feelings of a child living in Mugurameno in Zambia in Year 2, or being a victim of a natural hazard in Year 6; to reflect on the beauty of their immediate environment through fieldwork in Year 1 and 4, and to explore their own feelings about the people, places and environments they are learning about in the United Kingdom, Europe and in the wider world.The study of real people in real places, and our relationship with the environment, is at the heart of the geography curriculum. Therefore, there are many occasions when we give children the opportunity to reflect on their own values and beliefs, and those of others. For example, we give opportunities to think about the feelings of a child living in Mugurameno in Zambia in Year 2, or being a victim of a natural hazard in Year 6; to reflect on the beauty of their immediate environment through fieldwork in Year 1 and 4, and to explore their own feelings about the people, places and environments they are learning about in the United Kingdom, Europe and in the wider world.

Moral - Most geographical issues have a moral dimension. Environmental relationships provide a wealth of opportunities for distinguishing a moral dimension; for example, pupils in Year 4 discuss whether the rainforest being exploited really affects them. Discussion, role-play and decision-making exercises enable children to explore such issues. In doing so, children learn about the varying views held by society, and develop their own attitudes and values in relation to these.

Social - Geography learning in the classroom, whether individual, in pairs or groups fosters good social behaviour. However, through fieldwork, geography makes a distinctive contribution to social development through independence, communication and problem solving. Geography also has a key role in developing an understanding of citizenship. For example, learning about fishing as a local trade in Year 6 fosters a sense of the interdependence of people and places. Through geography, children develop a knowledge and understanding of the concept of sustainable development.

Cultural - Through the study of real people in real places, geography makes a major contribution to cultural development. Children learn about the characteristics of their local area, and contrast where they live with more distant localities, such as New York in America in Year 3. A sense of place requires a knowledge and understanding of the cultural traditions of the people who live there. For example, pupils in Year 2 learn about different styles of dress and buildings, while older pupils explore different attitudes towards the environment. Geography is a natural vehicle for exploring multicultural societies.

How to help your child at home

When out and about in your local area, you can help your child geographically by chatting about local physical features, attractions and activities. You might even like to develop this idea by asking them to provide a tourist guide for their local area for visiting relatives.

On a journey, you can share the road map or map phone app with your son or daughter so they can follow the route while you talk about where you are going. Alternatively, ask them to draw a map of their journey to school or the local shop, including any natural or man-made features along the way.

Holidays are an ideal opportunity to compare the location with their home area — you might ask your child to talk through five similarities and differences, for example. Holidays also provide an opportunity for a museum visit or a trip to a tourist attraction.

Closer to home, use anything at your disposal! Magazines, TV, films and even some computer games can provide your child with a view of distant places. They enable your child to be transported instantly to another place. Prompt their thinking with questions, such as: What might the weather be like in this place? Why might the road have been built where it is? The list of questions is endless and will lead to all sorts of discussions which will really help to develop curiosity about, and understanding of, the world.

Oxford Owl website

Click here to visit the Ordnance Survey Mapzone for children

Click here to visit the junior section of the National Geographic

Click here to visit BBC Bitesize for Geography