Intent – Geography at Parkfield

Former US president Barack Obama commented: The study of geography is about more than just memorising places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exist across continents. And in the end, it’s about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.

Throughout their time at Parkfield, we aim to improve children’s geographical vocabulary, map skills and geographical facts and provide opportunities to broaden and deepen their understanding of the four areas of geography identified in the curriculum. Our intention is to nurture young geographers through engaging and empowering learning, to develop their natural curiosity and understanding of the world around them and instil in them the desire to find out more. To develop contextual knowledge of 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 and to understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time.

To be competent in the geographical skills needed to:

• collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
• interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes and aerial photographs
• communicate geographical information in various ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length

Recent research which informs practice: In the Education Inspection Framework (2019) Ofsted state curriculum leaders’ intention must be to “construct a curriculum that is ambitious and designed to give all learners, particularly the most disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or high needs, the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life”. They emphasise curriculums must be “coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning”. They further state, through the implementation of the curriculum, leaders must ensure “teaching is designed to help learners to remember in the long term the content they have been taught and to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts” and through the curriculums impact learners will “develop detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum” meaning they “achieve well” and are “ready for the next stage of education” (EIF 2019).

Implementation

Our Geography Curriculum is built on substantive knowledge, disciplinary knowledge and conceptual knowledge.

• Substantive knowledge is core facts written as propositions.
• Disciplinary knowledge is how to ‘think like a geographer’
• Conceptual knowledge is about the ‘big ideas’ that children can understand in multiple different contexts.

We aim for children to learn key facts from the themes studied, and link these facts and knowledge to a 'big idea' that runs through the curriculum. Essentially, they will be able to know more, and do more within the scope of Geography. As a school we have decided on three key concepts or ‘big ideas’, these are: Location, Place and Human and Physical Geography. We have shared definitions of these concepts which are displayed in every classroom. The substantive knowledge for each unit has been outlined.

Our geography curriculum offers a coherently planned sequence of lessons to help teachers ensure they have progressively covered the skills and concepts required in the National Curriculum. We aim to develop geographical skills which will prepare children for future learning. These key geographical skills, which are revisited throughout different units, are: Mapping skills & Fieldwork: observing and recording the environment, understanding interconnections and asking geographical questions. Each year group has a specific fieldwork project. Children need to encounter geographical concepts first-hand, connecting classroom knowledge with the complexity of the real world. Place can be determined by a physical area that can be located (found on a map) that has significance. ‘Place’ connects physical and human geography. Understanding of ‘place’ helps build memory and links ideas with physical spaces and locations. Locational knowledge can be explained by ‘knowing where’s where’. It develops a frame of reference – oceans and continents/longitude and latitude, as well as a sense of scale and distance. Finally, Human and Physical Geography is all about making links and exploring interconnections between causes and impacts. We encourage our children to ‘think like a geographer’ by asking the following questions: What is this place like? Why is this place like this? Why is this place here and not there? How is this place changing? How do we know about this place? Has this place always been the same? How might this place change in the future? How is this place similar to and different from another place?

Lessons begin by introducing the learning question, the key concept or ‘big idea’. Each lesson is an opportunity to develop a geographical skill or concept- which is outlined and addresses the key vocabulary which the children will be exposed to. Opportunities for revision of facts and geographical understanding are built into lessons to keep knowledge ‘ticking over’. We aim to create a curiosity for learning, encourage questioning and thinking like a geographer. Teaching and learning is an opportunity for dialogue, questioning, discussion and collaboration, with oracy sentence stems embedded to encourage high quality dialogue. We conclude with a ‘bringing the learning together’ and a chance to reason in a variety of different contexts. We then recap the key substantive knowledge we wish the children to know and remember. This informs the quiz for the next lesson.

EYFS

Our geography programme of study begins in EYFS. Children work towards the Early Learning Goal (ELG), which is the prerequisite skills for geography within the National Curriculum. Geography links with The Natural World Early Learning Goal and children at the expected level of development will: Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants; know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class and understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter. As well as People, Culture and Communities. Where children are expected level of development will be able to describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps. Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class and explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps.

There is a strong focus on the characteristics of effective learning which includes Playing and Exploring, Active Learning and Creating and Thinking Critically. Children are encouraged to discuss the similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another.

At the beginning of the reception year, we spend time getting to know the children and their families and finding out about their homelife and where they live. When the children start school in September, they are gradually introduced to their new school environment and its surroundings, meeting those who work here, finding out about their roles. They create plan view maps and create ‘messy maps’ of their classroom. This enables them to develop a sense of space and their place within it. Some of our children have had limited vocabulary as they’re EAL or have a lack of pre-school experience, so we provide NELI interventions and daily communication and language whole class sessions to encourage their vocabulary and understanding of the world around them through narratives. They have many opportunities to explore the natural world and acquire a natural curiosity through fieldwork opportunities, in addition to opportunities to explore atlases, maps and globes in their play and are actively encouraged to interact with geography resources, such as compasses, in a fun and playful manner. Through high quality texts, we explore other countries and cultures and begin to think about what it might be like to live in other places. Children are encouraged to explore new lands through small world play, for example. This opens the world to the children as they begin to understand about different places and environments on planet Earth.

Key Stage 1 and 2

Our geography curriculum in Key Stage 1 and 2 fundamentally covers the statutory learning objectives outlined in the Primary National Curriculum (2014). In Key Stage 1, pupils develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality. They are introduced to subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness. 

We believe it is important to ‘zoom in’ and then ‘zoom out’ to give children a sense of location, place, space and scale. Year 1 works beyond the classroom, where they focus on locating their school on the street and exploring where Taunton is within the UK. This links with their history (within living memory) ‘How has Parkfield Primary School changed over time? They then learn about the UK, the countries and surrounding seas. Year 2 become immersed in Vivary Park, where they undertake fieldwork skills; this links well with their history (within living memory) How has Vivary Park changed overtime? They move onto a Taunton/Tulum (Mexico) comparison study and learn about oceans and continents.

Our Key Stage 2 curriculum extends pupils’ knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This includes the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge. This is progressive in nature, where ‘zoom out’ initially in Year 3 and look at the UK and counties. They then focus on Bristol: A local study and then look at Land use, economic activity and travel fieldwork- this builds on their Year 2 knowledge of Brunel & Bristol links. In Year 4 they do a weather and climate longitudinal fieldwork study and then move on from the South West and understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, where they compare Greater London and Campania, Italy. Year 4 also focus on Coasts. Year 5 complete a rivers fieldwork study and this compliments their understanding geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom and a region within North or South America. They compare North West UK and Western United Sates of America. In Year 6 they complete a Biomes and ecosystems fieldwork study in the Summer term which builds on their knowledge in Year 5 and they complete a UK Depth Study and explore the economic activity of the UK, and how sustainable is it.

Cultural Capital

We are very fortunate to be based in Somerset, which has a varied landscape to explore. We endeavour to provide equity and equality by giving children opportunities to explore the world around them by taking them on school trips linked to their curriculum, which include: Minehead Beach, Hinkley Point, Wessex Water, fieldwork in the school grounds and the local park in and around Taunton. We also value the importance of high quality texts and providing reading opportunities across the curriculum which link to geography to ensure children gain background knowledge of this discipline. We champion children’s outdoor experiences and this is why part of our termly homework menu is suggesting for children to enjoy an activity passport recommendation- i.e go to a beach and find fossils or go and walk in a forest.

How do we assess: 

Assessment takes many forms, which includes both formative and summative assessments. Teachers begin each lesson with a cumulative quiz– which is based on the substantive knowledge outlined from the previous lesson. Throughout lessons, there are opportunities to recap learning. Children’s extended writing opportunities also can provide a form of summative assessment of knowledge and understanding of a specific element of the unit they’re learning. In addition to an end of unit knowledge check.

Impact

By the end of their time at Parkfield, as geographers, the children will be:

• Successful learners who have knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
• Confident individuals who are competent in the geographical skills needed to collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data.
• Responsible citizens who understand the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments, where we have a moral duty to look after our landscape to ensure sustainability for future generations.