Geography at Christopher Hatton
Intent
Our aim is for all pupils to be informed, articulate and empowered:
In Geography this means children are engaged by a curriculum that encourages curiosity and an interest in exploring the world that we live in. Our curriculum equips children with the geographical skills they need to develop their knowledge through studying places, people and natural and human environments.
Informed
- Children learn about diverse places, people, resources and the natural and human environments
- Children learn about the processes that give rise to the key human and geographical features of the world and how these are interdependent and can change over time.
- Children learn the geographical skills needed to undertake an enquiry, use a range of sources including the experience of fieldwork, in order to communicate geographical information in a range of ways
Articulate
- Through the teaching of subject specific technical vocabulary and opportunities for focussed talk during lessons, children develop their ability to speculate, make connection and interpret evidence to develop their understanding about the world and its people.
Empowered
- Contrasting localities are chosen to reflect the diversity of our community enabling pupils to see themselves within the geography curriculum.
- Resources and materials are selected to challenge stereotypical images of places.
- The focus on having a growth mind-set is essential in the teaching of geography: empowering children with the confidence to have a go, to learn from mistakes and to keep trying and improving.
- Children explore geography within contexts that connect with their own lives e.g. local area, River Thames visit.
- A whole school summer term topic with an environmental theme engages pupils in finding ways to protect their immediate )school) and national environment (UK). As they get older we introduce them to global issues such as deforestation in Brazil.
- Fieldwork is an essential part of geography, visits within the local area support children to value their neighbourhood and understand the impact they can have. Former pupils contributed to improvements such as designs for school spaces and a local pocket park. On a wider scale, visits to other parts of the country enable our children to develop a sense of place and belonging.
- A sense of curiosity and fascination about the natural world is a precursor to be an active citizen who makes responsible environmental decisions.
- Teachers' lessons are interactive and visual, they include structured sentence stems and taught vocabulary to allow all pupils to access the learning.
Implementation
- Our Geography scheme of work lays out the sequential steps to be taught so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and pupils can work towards clearly defined outcomes.
- Geography is taught within topics, with lessons sometimes blocked to allow a tight focus on skills and knowledge.
- Each strand of Geography (locational knowledge, place knowledge, Human and physical geography, Geographical Skills and field work) is covered and revisited so that pupils retain and build upon prior learning.
- Opportunities for fieldwork are built in to topics wherever possible. Residential school journeys outside of London provide the opportunity for developing mapping skills, using compasses and grid references. These visits also provide first hand experiences of different types of settlements as well as physical landscape features such as fields and mountains.
- Links with the history scheme of work enable pupils to revisit and embed key knowledge within a different context e.g. volcanoes- Ancient Rome, rivers - Ancient Egypt.
- Environmental impact of human/physical geography is taught within key units.
- The curriculum lead supports teachers and monitors standards by reviewing planning of units, talking to children with their books and learning walks.
Impact
- Children at Christopher Hatton can express informed opinions, make connections and have a developing knowledge of the world around them.
- Children understand their impact on their locality and the wider world and are inspired to live a sustainable, environmentally friendly life.
- Children have developed the geographical knowledge and skills to help them explore, navigate and understand the world around them and their place in it.
