Geography
Geography at Calow C of E Primary School has been designed to prepare our pupils, many of those who will live into the next century, for their futures. Through our coherent, progressive and rigorous curriculum, pupils develop knowledge, skills and vocabulary on personal, local, regional, national and global scales. Our curriculum has identified the most relevant and meaningful aspects of the National Curriculum which are explored in depth through an enquiry-based scheme. Further to this, our curriculum develops pupils' spiritual connections through exposing them to key areas within our local environment.
Our curriculum is based on a clear and purposeful enquiry so that pupils can understand the interaction of human beings with their environments. Each enquiry is progressively more challenging, building on prior knowledge, to allow pupils to increase and extend their knowledge of the subject, as well as having the space and time to develop as geographers. Each enquiry is aspirational to enable pupils to achieve higher order outcomes by interrogating information and applying skills from one context to another. This progression reflects increasing mastery of the subject which is highlighted in the policy listed further down the page.
Each enquiry has a key question which at EYFS and Key Stage 1 focuses on more closed questions such as “Who”, “What”, Where”, “When” to suit their developmental needs; whereas Key Stage 2 focuses on a more open-ended approach with an emphasis on “Why” and “How”. The key question is underpinned by several ancillary questions which the pupils master in turn as they progress through the investigation. All of the ancillary questions have been carefully designed to take the pupils from the known and familiar in a supportive manner. By the time pupils have completed all stages of the investigation they are in a position to answer the key question. For more information on the implementation on the Geography curriculum please download the policy here.
Topics covered include:
| Topic 1 | Topic 2 | Topic 3 | |
| Nursery | How do we know it is autumn? | What is Chinese New Year? | What can you see in the garden? |
| Reception | What is my local environment like? | How can we care for the world? | What do maps show us? |
| Year 1 | What is the geography of where I live? | Why do we love being beside the sea so much? | How does the weather affect our lives? |
| Year 2 | Why don't penguins fly? | Why does it matter where my food comes from? | How does the geography of Kampong Ayer compare with the geography of where I live? |
| Year 3 | Why do some earthquakes cause more damage than others? | What is the Sunshine State really like? | Why so many people in the world live in megacities? |
| Year 4 | How and why is my local area changing? | How can we live more sustainably? | Why are jungles so wet and deserts so dry? |
| Year 5 | How do volcanoes affect the lives of people living on Hiemaey? | What is a river? | Why are mountains so important? |
| Year 6 | How is climate change affecting the world? | Why is fair trade fair? | Who are Britain's National Parks for? |
Teachers will assess our pupils on the above using a wide range of evidence for each enquiry such as discussions, questioning, day-to-day observations, presenting and writing. The outcomes of each enquiry inform the teachers of the developing picture of the knowledge and skills each pupil has in order to plan future learning accordingly. We do not make summative judgements about individual pieces of work but rather use the outcomes to build an emerging picture of what the pupil knows, understands and can do. At the end of each enquiry, teachers make summative judgements on their progress so far and again, use this information to inform future enquiries. At the end of the year, teachers will assess all pupils’ achievements in geography and make an overall judgement on how secure pupils are in the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that has been taught as a whole over the year.