Geography Curriculum

 At Whitburn Village Primary School we believe Geography is an important part of the curriculum where pupils can become engaged and develop key skills.  Our curriculum has a focus on the themes of the local area, scale, diversity and sustainability.  It teaches an understanding of places and environment and through their work in Geography; children learn about their area and compare their life in this locality to other regions in the United Kingdom and in the rest of the world.  There are many cross-curricular links to ensure pupils are able to see the subject in context of themselves and the lives of the community around them and wider world, developing their ideas of global citizenship. 

Within geography, children learn how to draw and interpret maps and they develop the skills of research, investigation, analysis and problem solving.  Through their growing knowledge and understanding of human geography, children gain an appreciation of life in other cultures.  Geography teaching also motivates children to find out about the physical world and enables them to recognise the importance of sustainable development for the future of humankind.  Our ambitious Geography curriculum is knowledge-rich, promotes deep thinking and allows students to apply their knowledge and understanding and to question like geographers.

 At Whitburn Village Primary School we follow the National Curriculum for Geography.  Geography is taught as a discrete subject, organised into units.  It is presented as a series of learning challenges, which may be entirely thematic, have a thematic prime learning challenge and subject specific subsidiary questions or have a subject specific prime learning challenge and subject specific subsidiary learning challenges. The content that has been selected involves making connections between physical and human world through the study of different places and scales.  Each learning challenge will be focused on the context of our children, their interests and what motivates them to learn. The learning challenges begin with a pre-learning task which establishes what the children already know, if they have any misconceptions and what they would like to know. Such information informs medium term and short term planning and provides the focus for the subsidiary challenges. A learning challenge may begin with a planned event, visit or memorable learning experience to engage and excite the children. Through the subsidiary learning challenges children then have the opportunity to communicate their awareness and understanding of geography orally, visually and in writing.  Learning challenges are sequenced to ensure progression and may include: 

• Teacher led lessons where information is provided. 

• Group work where the children discuss problems in small groups. 

• Class discussion lessons where members are encouraged to join in with their personal opinions. 

• Teacher prepared materials.

• The use of audio-visual aids in presenting materials to the children, including artefacts. 

• Educational visits and use of fieldwork.

• The use of Computing. 

Progress towards children meeting objectives is monitored and informs future planning. Each learning challenge is completed through designated time for reflection and review when children are able to re-visit their pre learning tasks and identify their progress towards answering the questions they posed and correcting any misconceptions.

It is the responsibility of all staff, both teaching and non-teaching, to monitor and evaluate the curriculum provision made for Geography within the school. This ensures that all pupils have access to the Geography curriculum, make the greatest possible progress and enjoy the learning experience they have when working towards the intended endpoints. Detailed evaluation is undertaken by the Geography Subject Leader who reports to the SLT and Governors. 

The monitoring and evaluating by the subject leader includes a regular review of the content of the Geography curriculum to ensure that National Curriculum requirements are being fulfilled. This involves reviewing the coverage of the Programmes of Study.  Resources are monitored and reviewed which ensures different teaching and learning opportunities. The organisation of the Geography Curriculum is regularly evaluated through monitoring of planning, assessing children’s work, pupil voice and observations.

Evaluation is conducted according to the Monitoring and Assessment cycles within the School Development Plan.  A yearly report will be produced for the Governors by the subject leader.