“You can travel the seas, poles and deserts and see nothing. To really understand the world you need to get under the skin of the people and places. In other words, learn about Geography. I can't imagine a subject more relevant in schools. We’d all be lost without it.”

Michael Palin

Geography Intent

Learning begins with rich knowledge development for curious minds. Children are actively encouraged to question, explore and make links with prior learning. Key links to prior Geography knowledge and/or cross-curricular learning are made explicit to connect the learning tapestry for all.

To foster mastery in our geographers, vocabulary and skills are planned for in progression steps that refer to and strengthen foundation knowledge and develop this further each year.

Children are encouraged to develop a sense of their RESPONSIBILTY for their role of custodians of the planet and to feel COURAGE in their ability to be agents of change. Through greater knowledge of their local COMMUNITY and wider environments, children develop RESPECT for and curiosity about their world. This common theme runs throughout the learning at Upton Upon Severn Primary School.

Geography Implementation

Teaching sequences logically build on prior learning. Opportunities to recall prior learning are embedded in lessons and called upon to answer open-ended questions.

Key vocabulary is shared with children and utilised throughout the learning sequence. The same vocabulary can be used as scaffolding for written work or discussion.  Key words and home learning opportunities are shared with parents before the start of each half-term. Some children will spend time revisiting key vocabulary in small groups to secure good recall.

Each year group has core substantive and disciplinary learning for Geography identified in the curriculum overview document. Plan Bee schemes of work are used to scaffold and resource planning. Teachers are aware that some of the scheme lessons may not be appropriate for their cohort or help children to extend their learning. In this case, teachers will adapt lessons to ensure that the core purpose of each lesson is for children to think hard and learn more.

Teachers make use of the learning opportunities available in the local environment. Upton upon Severn is semi-rural with readily available nature reserves, the River Severn, the small town, fields and the Malvern Hills. Links to our Tanzanian link school are also rich with learning opportunities not exclusive to geography.

Atlases with a variety of map types, OS maps, compasses and quadrats are resources available to all. A great deal of geography research can also make use of Google Maps, Google Earth.

Geography Impact

Children have individual Geography books. Key vocabulary is readily accessible and adapted as required for the learner. Children are confident and accurate in their use of Tier 3 vocabulary.

A class book that follows the cohort through their learning at Upton Upon Severn Primary School will collect key and additional vocabulary or areas of interest explored by that cohort.

Children can recall links to relevant prior learning as this is implicitly visited over the course of the learning sequence. Children can talk about what they knew then and what they know now as a logical development.

Children are encouraged to be curious about their own role as custodians of their local environment and the wider world and how they can act as agents of change. Some learning may evolve to incorporate community-based lines of enquiry, linked to the original learning purpose.

Assessment for learning is consistently planned for and included in lessons through questioning and low-stakes quizzes. Teachers consider misconceptions prior to the learning sequence and plan to address and resolve these.  Information gathered from these sources informs next steps in learning with opportunities to strengthen recall incorporated where recall falls below 80%.

Assessment of learning occurs through extended questions requiring application of recalled knowledge e.g. an extended piece of writing in response to an open-ended question, a presentation of facts to the class in response to a posed problem, a summary of a debate in class, a manifesto for change to positively impact the local environment.