GEOGRAPHY
At Glenbrook we inspire children to be curious about the world around them and its people. Through our teaching of Geography at Glenbrook we equip children with the knowledge of diverse places, people, resources, natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. All Geography topics taught link with other areas of the curriculum such as Science, History, Computing and Maths
EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE
n EYFS, Geography is taught within the ‘Understanding The World’ Early Learning Goal. Children begin to explore life in other countries through books and role-play areas and children learn about special places and why they are special. They learn how to look after their environment and begin to explore and describe differences between places. They explore the school grounds and local area, making use of our Forest School area where children begin to build on their fieldwork enquiry skill
KEY STAGES 1 & 2
In KS1 & KS2 Geography is taught in line with the National Curriculum and we provide a range of opportunities where children can expand their knowledge and enhance their geographical skills. Knowledge Organisers provide children with a visual representation of the geographical vocabulary and concepts they will be learning throughout each topic and provide them with key facts for them to remember.
In KS1, we build on the foundation from EYFS. Children learn about their local area and compare this to other places in the UK and the rest of the world. Topics such as ‘On Safari’ which explores Africa, ‘Polar Regions’ focusing on the Arctic and Antarctica, and ‘London’ allow children to make comparisons between different continents and build their locational knowledge and place knowledge. Children are immersed in these topics and have the opportunity to take part in workshops and trips to support their learning. They learn about human and physical geography and are taught skills in fieldwork, map reading and drawing, use of atlases, satellite images and compasses to explore directions.
In KS2, the in-depth knowledge of geography develops even further using lines of longitude and latitude, locating continents and various countries, exploring geographical features of the UK, Europe, the Americas and major cities. Topics such as ‘Amazonia’, ‘Festivals Around the World’ and ‘Desert Survival’ provide many opportunities for children to make comparisons between where they live and many places around the world. Children learn to describe and understand key aspects of human and physical geography such as rainforests and land use in more detail. Using a range of geographical tools, such as maps, atlases, globes and compasses, children locate and study places and features, including different biomes. Geography teaching at Glenbrook motivates children to find out about the physical world and enables them to recognize the importance of sustainable development for the future of our environment.
IMPACT
The impact of our Geography curriculum is that children leave Glenbrook with a thorough understanding of the world that they live in and contextual knowledge about globally significant places. They are confident in talking about themselves as part of a local community and the wider world using geography-specific vocabulary that they have acquired throughout their time at Glenbrook. Children build the geographical skills to collect and analyse data, interpret a range of sources of geographical information and communicate information in a variety of ways. They successfully take part in fieldwork projects, presenting their findings to others and understand how their actions can have an impact on the world in the future.
The impact of our Geography curriculum is assessed through a range of outputs:
-
Formative self-assessment recorded in books and teacher assessment for learning
-
Book looks & learning walks
-
Pupil Voice – pupil conferencing and lesson visits
-
Regular retrieval quizzes of key information linking back to their Knowledge Organisers
