Geography

‘A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the framework and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time’.

 

Geography programme of study, from the Primary National Curriculum, 2013

At Tividale, we believe that our pupils should have the opportunity to broaden their horizons by being exposed to and connecting with the world around them. Through high quality geography teaching, our pupils will have an excellent understanding of their local area and community and how this small pocket sits within the wider context of the country that they live in, the continent that they live on and the wider world. We aim for our pupils to make connections between physical processes, climate zones and natural disasters with how human interaction, including our own and within our community, can have a wider impact on our country and the world in which we live. We aspire for our pupils to have the opportunity to put together concepts that they have learnt over time to gain a perspective of why things in our world exist and how they change over time.

 Through their work in geography, our pupils will learn about their local area and compare their life with that in other regions in the United Kingdom and in the rest of the world. Our pupils will learn how to draw and interpret maps and use these effectively to navigate their understanding of the physical world. They will also develop the skills of research, investigation, analysis and problem-solving and have hands on fieldwork experiences to fulfil their lifelong curiosity and fascination at the world around us. Our aim is for our pupils to think like geographers, explore geographically and to have the ability to question, enquire and wonder about what they see in front of them and how it came to be. Through their growing knowledge and understanding of human geography, pupils gain an appreciation about diverse places, human resources and natural and human environments and understand and celebrate their own family heritage. Geography teaching also motivates and inspires our pupils to find out about the physical world and enables them to recognize the importance of sustainable development for the future of mankind.

To be geographers we believe pupils should;

• Have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• Have an excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
• Have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Be fluent in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
• Have the ability to reach clear conclusions and develop a reasoned argument to explain findings.
• Have significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations and representations of the subject matter.
• Take part in highly developed and frequently utilised fieldwork and other geographical skills and techniques.
• Have a passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there.
• Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in good subject knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.
• In the EYFS, Geography is not taught as a specific subject but is a key part of the Knowledge and Understanding of the World area of the curriculum. It is also integral to many areas of daily exploration, learning and play.