Intent:
Here at Warren Park, we recognise that Geography provides learners with the opportunity to make sense of the world around them. In an ever-changing world, this is more essential than ever. As a school. we are proud and privileged to have such a strong sense of community spirit within our local area. Our Geography curriculum aims to build on these foundations to develop and stimulate our children’s geographical thinking beyond their own front door. Throughout their Warren Park journey, we will enrich the curiosity and fascination that exists in every child by introducing them to a rich diversity of places, people and processes from around the globe. Logical sequencing of locations, concepts and processes will aid children’s progress and understanding, allowing them to revisit, consolidate and build on prior knowledge and experiences whilst having opportunities to identify relationships across the subject and make links to other curricular areas. This in turn, builds confidence and proficiency in them as geographers and leads to significant progression through the geographical skills to the expected standard. Our vision is that all our children have equal opportunity to experience Geography at Warren Park and make continuous progress throughout their learning journey.
Implementation:
Warren Park geographers will revisit the subject across three half-term blocks in each and every year group from Reception to Year 6. The enquiry-led approach that we follow will allow children to investigate a key statement or question within a unique domain of geography, building knowledge and understanding throughout each unit in order to respond with greater insight. With such a variety of topics and concepts covered, the thread of continuity in Geography will be maintained with the explicit use of geographical resources such as atlases and the reference to specific vocabulary that will be modelled by teaching staff and displayed within classrooms. Reading of such language in Geography will be supplemented with dual coding through relevant images, diagrams and videos that are key to each concept, while discussion-based learning will be employed in every session to allow peers to enhance individual understanding. Throughout these journeys, interleaving of related concepts and processes will allow children to combine known facts with new information as well as learning how it is that geographers approach their own enquiries in the real world. Moreover, learners will discover that viewpoints and opinions are an integral part of Geography, making it a dynamic subject with ideas and processes that change over time. Progressive fieldwork skills of data collection and analysis will be a regular focus within each Geography unit that is studied throughout the year groups. To enhance this, each year group will experience a unit of Geography through our COSMIC curriculum, where learners will apply the geographical knowledge, understanding and skills built in within classrooms.
Impact:
Our children at Warren Park achieve a good standard when assessed at the end of their primary school journey.
Pupil progress is monitored through formative assessment during the learning process so that misconceptions are identified and addressed directly. Regular low-stakes quizzes and spaced practice will promote engagement and success, whilst consolidating knowledge and understanding. End of unit assessments and teacher judgements will be used to determine children’s progress towards age-related expectation in Geography. Teaching staff will have regular development and training opportunities to ensure that the best practise is shared and applied to ensure that learning and enjoyment of Geography is maximised throughout Warren Park.