Geography
At Thurgoland our aim is to inspire children’s love of learning about the world around them. We aim to promote a ‘curiosity and fascination about the world’ beyond that of the children’s immediate locality as well as equipping them ‘with 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.’ Our curriculum is designed to nurture a love of the world and foster a respect for the environment with knowledge about climate and sustainability.
As a Church of England School every aspect of the school’s work is underpinned by Christian values. Geography is seen as a key subject in providing opportunities for children to explore and respect customs, practices and belief systems of other countries and cultures. Wherever possible we link our R.E. curriculum to other subjects.
Intent
At Thurgoland we intend to:
- We develop children’s resilience in using different geographical skills needed to:
- Collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork
- Be increasingly proficient in geographical enquiry; to ask questions and record information in an organised way,
- Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes and aerial photographs.
- Communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
- To ensure that ALL learners are able to develop a give it a go attitude to geography we provide scaffolding and support, including vocabulary banks and adaptations to tasks and resources.
- Nurture the love of learning by delivering a curriculum which examines geography through the key strands of location, place, physical and human processes, climate and sustainability.
- Encourage pupils to aim high by demonstrating their knowledge though our inquiry led approach and extended learning opportunities.
Implementation
Geographical implementation
- Long term: Collaborative planning ensures that pupils cover all the objectives set within the National Curriculum / Development Matters and that skills progress from year group to year group
- Medium term: Knowledge is mapped out through the medium term plans following the Geography skills progression document for each year group. Where appropriate elements from the Connected Geography curriculum supports the planning and delivering of the curriculum.
- Short Term: We have an inquiry led approach to each lesson, which cumulates in an overarching question to allow children demonstrate their knowledge and skills developed across the unit.
- Activities are planned bearing in mind the range of ability within a class: less able children are supported with vocabulary banks, task and resource adaptations;
- The carefully crafted questions in each lesson allow more able children to inquire more deeply.
- Children are assessed at the end of each geography unit using the intended unit knowledge statements and teacher assessment inputted onto Insights Tracker.
- Where appropriate, staff plan for cross curricular opportunities.
- Suggested activities are put on dojo each half term to encourage children to aim high by questioning and researching their topics further.
Impact
- Children at Thurgoland are knowledgeable about places, their location and demonstrate a curiosity about the world. They make links between what they are learning now and what they have previously learnt, demonstrating a real love of learning.
- Geographers at Thurgoland make sense of the world by applying knowledge of human and physical processes to new localities.
- Children use vocabulary with confidence and can articulate their learning journey across school. They can talk about places, describe processes and discuss findings from fieldwork using geographical terminology.
- Children can talk about the importance of respecting the environment around us and in the wider world. From beginning in EYFS, children foster an understanding how humans can impact on the world around us.
- Children develop the resilience needed to work like a geographer, using skills to interpret a range of geographical resources.
- Children aim high through engagement with the topic homework.
- Subjects at Thurgoland are monitored through the year as per the monitoring calendar but also through regular drop ins and sharing of outcomes.
- Subject knowledge and skills are consolidated by the children completing an exit piece at the end of each topic. We will schedule in subject moderation to moderate a cross section of children’s work. From this we aim to build a bank of standardised exemplification materials with will aid teacher’s judgements in coming terms / years.
- Teachers plan and assess from the knowledge progression document and Connected Geography curriculum, which has specific knowledge threads that are built upon year by year from EYFS to Y6.
Useful Documents
Values that are at the heart of Thurgoland
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Getting here
Halifax Road
Thurgoland
Sheffield
S35 7AL
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