Red Oak Primary School, Lowestoft

Geography at Red Oak Primary School

Intent

At Red Oak Primary, we believe our high-quality geography education will inspire curiosity and fascination about the world and help pupils to understand the key physical and human processes. Our curriculum equips pupils with knowledge and skills about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. We encourage children to understand their Geography on a personal, national and global significance through captivating experiences in the classroom and fieldwork/educational visits.

Implementation

Children in key stage 1 and 2 cover three geographical topics a year (all in the second half term of each term.) Children engage with Geography once weekly in a discrete session led by the class teacher as well as a weekly current affairs session. Each year group covers all 3 key themes; place knowledge, locational knowledge and human + physical geography.

Place knowledge refers to what places are like and we aim for children to become familiar with our local area. This is an important starting point before making any tangible comparisons to other places. Locational knowledge is investigating where places are and this is used to clarify underlying conceptual understandings of the world in which we live. Physical geography looks at the natural processes of the Earth, such as climate and plate tectonics. Human geography looks at the impact and behaviour of people and how they relate to the physical world.

Each year groups themes are mapped out on the geography long term plan showing progression from year to year. When each of the sections are revisited in each year group, previous learning is recapped and built upon to provide a clear structure for the children. A knowledge organiser is used in each year group to present subject specific vocabulary, key facts, processes, explanations and essential maps.

Geography is a subject that contextualises and extends the possibilities for developing and applying language and mathematics, and enriches understanding of, and in, subjects from science and history to art and design. We believe that knowledge and skills progression are integral to a coherent curriculum. There are links between Literacy and Mathematics within Geography. Teachers regularly use extended writing opportunities to encourage children to share their learning through varied approaches. Within mathematics, children engage with map skills, positional and directional language as well as analysing data when carrying out fieldwork. Our weekly current affairs session allow children to understand what is going on in the world, use oracy skills to debate and form opinions about existing issues.

Impact

Our children demonstrate an appreciation and understanding of their local area, places near and far and the processes that create and affect them. We instil consideration of concepts including community, sustainability and cultural diversity that are at the heart of Modern Britain. The children begin to understand the potential of their role and the impact that they might have through their actions and interests, as primary geography takes them beyond their immediate world and what they currently know to deepen their environmental knowledge and nurture their stewardship of places.

At Red Oak, the children are assessed termly in their geography learning and support is put in place for those that are not achieving in line with peers and increased challenge to further extend those that are exceeding expectations. From these assessments, we continually assess how the children are progressing with the beliefs of our intent and adapt our approach to fulfil these ambitious objectives and prepare children for a life-long love and appreciation of how our world works.

How we are currently continuing to improve Geography at Red Oak:

• To assess the impact of: achievement, teaching and curriculum, relationships within the school and overall leadership of Geography at Red Oak. (Submission for the Primary Geography Quality Mark).
• To ensure every child engages regularly in fieldwork to give children the opportunities to rehearse skills they have been learning in the classroom.
• To develop the pupil’s ability to recall and retain knowledge that is delivered within Geography lessons.
• To develop presentational and critical thinking skills through the use of oracy within Geography.

Below is a PDF that shows subject coverage in each year group over the academic year: