Intent     

At Valley Road Academy, Geography develops our pupils’ understanding of the world in which they live through studying the accurate representation of place, space and environment. We aim to Increase pupils’ awareness, knowledge and understanding of other cultures and develop pupils’ understanding of environmental problems. Pupils will learn about the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes.  Pupils will increase their understanding of the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world and how these are interdependent. We want pupils to develop a sense of space and be competent in the geographical skills needed to: collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork, to deepen their understanding of geographical processes, particularly through practical and fieldwork activities.

Implementation 

The geography curriculum is designed for continuity and progression from EYFS to Year 6 and beyond. In each unit the planning is underpinned by the key substantive concepts of: locational knowledge, place knowledge, environmental, physical and human geography and geography skills and fieldwork. Content is carefully chosen and sequenced allowing pupils to draw on prior knowledge, as this plays and important role in how pupils learn. This builds a strong interconnected web of knowledge, that helps pupils to connect individual pieces of knowledge and remember it in the long term. High quality lesson planning and systematic teaching approaches strive to bring about lasting changes in pupils’ capabilities and understanding.  Content is broken down into manageable chunks and pupils have repeated opportunities to revisit ideas allowing them to retrieve information from memory and strengthen their recall. Scaffolding, guides and a software system to support communication, are used highly effectively to support all pupils, to realise their full potential. 

Our Geography Journey

Geography Long Term Plan

The EYFS curriculum i9s structured very differently to the National Curriculum, as it is organised across seven areas of learning, rather than subject areas. Separate documentation details the necessary skills pupils will acquire across Early Years  in readiness for Year 1. 

Impact

Pupils achieve well in geography producing high quality written work demonstrating a depth of knowledge and understanding of the geographical themes studied.  

The impact of our Geography curriculum is measured in a variety of ways:

• Questioning during lesson time
• Marking children’s written work
• Book looks 
• Lesson visits 
• Pupil interviews 

By the time pupils are ready to leave for secondary school, they will:

• Have a growing knowledge of the world and their place in it.
• Have a wider vocabulary of geographical terms.
• Aspire to discover more about the world, through reading, travel or the media.
• Know that they can use their voice to express themselves and their opinions.
• Develop their geographical skills, such as, evaluation, creativity, problem solving and enquiry.

• Be able to articulate their learning recalling key knowledge and concepts using a wide range of subject specific vocabulary. 

•  Understand their place in the world, are aware of the global issues our world faces, such as climate change, deforestation and sustainability.

Early Years 

The EYFS framework is structured very differently to the National Curriculum as it is organised across seven areas of learning rather than subject areas.

Please click here to understand how the skills taught across EYFS prepare children for year geography in Year 1.