Geography at Eaglesfield Paddle CE Primary Academy

Intent - What Do We Aspire for Our Children?

At Eaglesfield Paddle C of E Academy our Geography scheme of work aims to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer. We want pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings. Through our curriculum, we aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time. We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them. Our scheme encourages: • A focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge. • Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence. • The development of fieldwork skills across each year group. • A deep interest and knowledge of pupils’ locality and how it differs from other areas of the world. • A growing understanding of geographical terms and vocabulary. Our Geography scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum.

Implementation - How Will We Deliver the Curriculum?

The National curriculum organises the Geography attainment targets under four subheadings: • Locational knowledge • Place knowledge • Human and physical geography • Geographical skills and fieldwork At Eaglesfield Paddle our Geography scheme has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within the four strands across each year group. Our Progression of skills and knowledge shows the skills taught within each year group and how these develop to ensure that targets are securely met by the end of each key stage. Each unit of work contains elements of geographical skills and fieldwork to ensure that fieldwork skills are practised as often as possible. Fieldwork includes smaller opportunities on the school grounds to larger-scale visits and residentials to investigate physical and human features. Throughout these opportunities the children learn to observe, measure, record, and present, to reflect the elements mentioned in the National curriculum. This ensures children will learn how to decide on an area of enquiry, plan to measure data using a range of methods, capture and present their data. Our excellent outdoor areas allow us to develop fieldwork skills within the school environment and revisiting them in multiple units allowing pupils to consolidate their understanding of various methods. Geography lessons incorporate various teaching strategies from independent tasks to paired and group work, including practical hands-on, computer-based and collaborative tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Lesson and activities are adapted to ensure that all pupils can access learning, and opportunities to challenge pupils’ learning are provided. Knowledge organisers are provided for each unit to support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary. Our units aims to revisit knowledge and skills with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning throughout their time at our school. At Paddle school we are aware of the importance of the cross-curricular links, that allow children to make connections and apply their Geography skills to other areas of learning.

Impact - How Do We Know Our Geography Curriculum is Effective?

At Eaglesfield Paddle School, we aim for all pupils to leave our school equipped with a range of geographical skills and knowledge to enable them to study Geography with confidence at Key stage 3. We hope to shape children into curious and inspired geographers with respect and appreciation for the amazing location in which they live and the wider world beyond. The impact of our Geography scheme of work is that all children will have the opportunity to: • Compare and contrast human and physical features to describe and understand similarities and differences between various places in the UK, Europe and the Americas. • Name, locate and understand where and why the physical elements of our world are located and how they interact, including processes over time relating to climate, biomes, natural disasters and the water cycle. • Understand how humans use the land for economic and trading purposes, including how the distribution of natural resources has shaped this. • Develop an appreciation for how humans are impacted by and have evolved around the physical geography surrounding them and how humans have had an impact on the environment, both positive and negative. • Develop a sense of location and place around the UK and some areas of the wider world using the eight-points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and keys on maps, globes, atlases, aerial photographs and digital mapping • Identify and understand how various elements of our globe create positioning, including latitude, longitude, the hemispheres, the tropics and how time zones work, including night and day. • Present and answer their own geographical enquiries using planned and specifically chosen methodologies, collected data and digital technologies. • Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Geography.

Pupil Voice

We believe that if children have become confident geographers, then they will be able to articulate their understanding, knowledge and skills with confidence. This is why pupil voice is an important tool in assessing whether children have made progress. If a child is able to confidently formulate and explain their own responses to an overarching enquiry, then the curriculum and its delivery have been successful.

High-Quality Outcomes

Children’s learning is recorded in books. Our Geography curriculum is also celebrated through displays throughout the school.