Geography

Intent

The intention of the geography curriculum at the Phoenix Federation is to inspire children’s curiosity and interest to explore the world that we live in and its people. The geography curriculum enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas, and which are used to promote their spiritual, moral social and cultural development.

Through our teaching, we intend to provoke thought, questions and to encourage children to discover answers to their own questions through exploration and research to enable them to gain a greater understanding of the world and their place in it.  

The curriculum progression will expand outwards from the immediate locality to the global but with a comparison and contrast to the touchstone of the local at each step.

Implementation

Geography at Phoenix federation is taught in block throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in the learning.  Geography is taught in a planned, coherent way which is sequenced logically, ensuring that children learn and remember a rich body of geographical knowledge and acquire progressive geographical skills from EYFS to Year 6.

Teachers have identified the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary to be taught in each topic and when planning, teachers assess and adapt learning for all so all children including SEND, PP, EAL are supported and challenged at their level. At the beginning of each topic, children are able to convey what they know already as well as what they would like to find out. This informs teacher planning and also ensures that lessons are relevant and take account of children’s different starting points.

Consideration is given to how a greater depth of understanding and skills will be taught, learnt and demonstrated within each lesson, as well as to how learners will be supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. Teachers avoid teaching children with a ‘single story’ and provide relevant, broad examples when learning about different places. Where appropriate, cross curricular links are specifically planned for such as Maths, Computing and English. Location knowledge and map work are woven throughout all Geography topics.

Impact

At Phoenix Federation we ensure that all students are exposed to rich learning experiences both in and out of the classroom that aims to

• Develop the use of geographical language and vocabulary through oracy.
• Promote collaboration and developing a general sense of enquiry, which encourages them to question and make suggestions.
• Build on our student’s natural curiosity and develop a geographical awareness of their surroundings but also what is in the wider world.
• Make links between geography and other subjects.
• Create a culture of high aspirations which will allow our students a platform to learn about careers related to geography in the wider community with specialist skills and knowledge, ensuring that they are well prepared for the next steps of their education.
• Develop an interest in the past and an appreciation of human achievements and aspirations.
• Instil and understand the values of our society and how we can protect our environment and world for years to come.