Geography

At Foulds we believe that Geography helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. In our children, we want to cultivate a natural interest and life-long fascination about the wider world around them. We want our children to be encouraged to develop a greater understanding of the world in which they live and understand their place within it. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We want our children to become naturally inquisitive geographers and to promote their interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Through the study of natural and human environments, as well as physical and human processes, our desire is to provide our children with a sense of awe and wonder about the world they live in and to equip them to become Global Citizens.

The geography curriculum at Foulds enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas e.g. PSHE, global citizenship and our learning about sustainability, and are used to promote their moral, social and cultural development. As pupils progress through the school, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical skills and knowledge are progressive and are sequenced to provide the framework and approaches that provide explanations of how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with the subject-specific language they need to describe, question and discuss the world, as well as their place in the global community and responsibility within it. Our pupils are encouraged to recognise that they have a voice and use it confidently to debate topics that they feel passionate about, for example, deforestation or climate change. We aim to produce well-rounded individuals by providing our children with the opportunities to expand their cultural capital and experiences of the world. We want them to take an active role in the community and work with others to make our planet more peaceful, sustainable and fairer. We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives, equipping them well for further education and beyond.

Geography at Foulds is taught in blocks, so that children can achieve depth in their learning.
We alternate our Geography and History topics ensuring that our children receive a well-rounded teaching of the humanities subjects throughout the year. Where appropriate, we take the opportunity to create links between the two subjects to help solidify the learning taking place.

We implement a curriculum that meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children.

We ensure that teaching is informed by the children’s starting points and that it takes account of pupil voice, incorporating children’s interests.

It is important that children develop the skills of a geographer by fully immersing them in all areas of the subject. The local area is fully utilised to achieve desired outcomes, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practise e.g. Barnet Environmental Centre, local area walks.

School trips and fieldwork are provided to give first hand experiences, which enhance children’s understanding of the world beyond their locality e.g. Affinity Water, London Zoo.

Inspirational speakers and visitors are invited in to help bring geography alive e.g. WaterAid

Tasks are selected and designed to provide appropriate challenges to all learners.

Maps and globes are displayed throughout the school. Teachers and pupils are encouraged to reference these when appropriate during all lessons to help develop an awareness of the world.

Teachers use questioning and provide opportunities for discussion and investigation to support the development of vocabulary, which is explicitly taught and modelled by teachers in lessons.

Key geographical knowledge and language e.g. the name and location of continents, countries, capital cities and oceans are revisited frequently, to make learning memorable, relevant and easy to retrieve.

Teachers are encouraged to use a range of resources such as videos, photographs and newspaper articles during lessons to help create immersive learning experiences.

Whole school assemblies are used to raise the profile of Geography e.g. Geography Awareness Week

Work is recorded in folders or photos uploaded (practical work)

The impact of our Geography curriculum is measured in a variety of ways: questioning during lessons, looking at children’s written work, listening to child-led discussions, class quizzes, interviewing pupils across the school about their learning and using images and videos of children’s practical learning.

By the time children leave Foulds they will:

Have an increasing knowledge of where places are and what they are like.

Have an increasing understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.

Have a wider vocabulary of geographical terms.

Develop their geographical skills such as problem solving, enquiry and evaluation.

Have a passion for, and commitment to, the subject and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there through reading, travel or the media.

Know that they can use their voice to express themselves and their opinions, rooted in good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society, the environment and sustainability.

Through the breadth and depth that our Geography curriculum offers, our children are provided with a broad knowledge of the world they live in, and understand, as responsible citizens, how they need to care and preserve the planet for future generations.