Geography

Subject Rationale for Geography

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Intent | What and why do we teach what we teach?

At the Learning Academies Trust, we have carefully curated a Geography curriculum in line with the 'United Learning Curriculum', which engages, inspires and challenges pupils to learn and remember more. Within the United Learning curriculum, there are six core principles, which are: entitlement, coherence, mastery, adaptability, representation, education with character.

The United Curriculum for Geography provides all children, regardless of their background, with:

Entitlement - All pupils have the right to learn what is in the United Learning curriculum, and schools have a duty to ensure that all pupils are taught the whole of it.
Coherence - Taking the National Curriculum as its starting point, our curriculum is carefully sequenced so that powerful knowledge builds term by term and year by year. We make meaningful connections within subjects and between subjects.
Mastery - We ensure that foundational knowledge, skills and concepts are secure before moving on. Pupils revisit prior learning and apply their understanding in new contexts.
Adaptability - The core content – the ‘what’ – of the curriculum is stable, but schools will bring it to life in their own local context, and teachers will adapt lessons – the ‘how’ – to meet the needs of their own classes.
Representation - All pupils see themselves in our curriculum, and our curriculum takes all pupils beyond their immediate experience.
Education with Character - Our curriculum - which includes the taught subject timetable as well as spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, our co-curricular provision and the ethos and ‘hidden curriculum’ of the school – is intended to spark curiosity and to nourish both the head and the heart.

Implementation | How and when do we teach what we teach?

Across the LAT, Geography is taught from EYFS to Year 6 through our LAT-wide curriculum. Our key concepts are: Place and Space, Physical Processes and Human Processes. This ensures there is a clear progression of practical, theoretical and disciplinary knowledge from EYFS to Year 6.

Within Geography, content is always carefully situated within existing schemas. For example, map skills cannot be covered in a single task, concepts of map skills are built on methodically and logically over time through careful planning. In early years pupils begin to identify features of their local area, in KS1 pupils apply directional vocabulary to features and by KS2 pupils use map symbols and grid references on OS maps to describe the location of features.

Vertical concepts are used within lessons to connect aspects of learning. For example, when learning about migration, pupils will review population structures, natural hazards and types of settlement when looking at the reasons why people voluntarily or forcibly move from one place to another.

Opportunities for extended, scholarly writing appear throughout the curriculum. These have a clear purpose and audience and, crucially, allow pupils to write as a geographer. For example, after considering the hazards and benefits associated with volcanic activity and the ways in which humans can prepare for volcanic events, pupils write a discussion explaining why they would or would not live near a volcano.

Impact | How do we assess the impact of what we teach via pupil outcomes?

Geography follows the LAT assessment framework. This informs our own school's approach to assessment to determine:

The depth of a pupil's knowledge, understanding and ability to make links in learning.
The ability for pupils to apply procedural knowledge to skill-based activities.

Within the context of Geography, the following methods of assessment are used:

Recall knowledge: Pupils will demonstrate an ability to recall facts and information, whilst demonstrating their ability to recall and model the skills taught. This assessment of pupils’ knowledge in these areas will be used to inform future lessons, they need for additional practice, pre-teach and interventions.

Explore and Question: Using graphic schemas, pupils will be challenged to demonstrate an ability to use their knowledge by being asked rich, varied questions relating to the subject matter. Pupils will be able to use a rich vocabulary to communicate their own thoughts and interpretations of questions relating to the subject. Pupils will demonstrate their understanding of the taught skills, knowledge and understanding of the world to explore their own ideas within Geography, selecting and exploring the skills they have developed so far.

Communicate: For each History or Geography project, pupils will share what they have learned through debate, presentations, teaching others and will justify their opinions. Teachers will provide pupils with opportunities to explore how their learning connects with the wider curriculum.