At Elsley Primary School, we aim to provide a Geography Curriculum that not only sparks a curiosity about the world and its people, but enables our pupils to make wise decisions about their planet and the use of its resources. We aim to equip our pupils with the skills, knowledge and understanding that will enable them to think as geographers, as through inquiry and exploration, they gain a deeper understanding, respect and appreciation of diversity, culture and landscape. Through our Geography curriculum, we aim for our pupils to have a sound understanding of the Earth’s key human and physical processes, which will enable them to develop an understanding of natural phenomena and disasters.

Through the teaching of Geographical knowledge, skills and understanding our pupils will be provided with the framework and approaches that allow them to explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time (National Curriculum, DfES, 2014).  As our pupils are equipped to collect, critically analyse and communicate their findings based on a range of geographical data,  we desire that they  will be able to share their insights using geographical terms and vocabulary, question and propose decisions based on their growing geographical knowledge. We aim for our pupils to appreciation and actively care for their local area, with an understanding of its place within the wider geographical context and contribution to global issues such as climate change. We aim to provide our pupils with a foundation in geography that ignites a passion to find out more about the physical and human world, and recognise the importance of sustainable development for the future of mankind.

Our curriculum allows pupils to develop the following disciplinary skills within the domain of Geography:

• Geographical enquiry
• Location knowledge
• Place knowledge
• Human and physical geography
• Geographical skills and field work
• Communicate geographically

At Elsley, our Geography curriculum is taught in 3 blocks across the year which supports our pupils to achieve depth in their learning. Our curriculum has been carefully planned to enable pupil progression within and across each year group. Each unit of learning begins with a big question and subsequent key questions for pupils to investigate in order to answer the big question. Our lessons are knowledge and vocabulary rich, as pupils learn about the current geographical ideas (concepts, theories) that underpin their learning and grow in their knowledge of the location of places and their significance.  Each Geographic investigation aims to activate analytical and critical thinking, as pupils are taught how to grapple with geographical data in its various forms (maps, statistics, graphs, texts etc.) and communicate their findings. From this, pupils are given the opportunity to discuss their discoveries and conclusions as teachers check and correct misconceptions. Fieldwork plays an important in our geography curriculum and supports our enquiry based approach. These opportunities provide our pupils with first-hand, practical experiences which reinforce the knowledge, conceptual understanding and skills they have acquired in the classroom and brings them to life in a memorable way. Our Geography curriculum is enriched by, but not limited to: trips, workshops and visitors as well as whole school initiatives. Throughout their learning journey, our pupils are encouraged to share their thoughts, opinions and feelings about the way the world is in the hope that a foundation will be laid for them to be active global citizens by being proactive in their locality.

We hold to a collaborative approach to the evaluation of the impact of our curriculum where this process is not ‘done to’ our staff, but ‘with them’.  In order to judge how successful our curriculum has been designed to promote the learning of the Geography National Curriculum, pupil outcomes are evaluated against our skills and knowledge progression map, teacher assessment for learning and pupil voice. These enable us to capture what pupils know, apply and understand about what they have been taught. We also evaluate our Geography curriculum and practices against evidence-based education research, leading subject associations and welcome cross school collaboration to ensure that our curriculum design successfully meets and challenges our pupils.

We aim for our pupils 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.

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 are 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
• Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams,  globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• Communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length
• Interpret processes
• Be confident in discussing geography, their own work and identifying their own strengths and areas for development
• Develop the ability to agree and/or disagree with dignity and humility
• Value both collaborative and independent aspects of the learning process
• Be resilient, collaborative and flexible learners
• Be able to communicate as geographers, using age appropriate disciplinary vocabulary
• Find their own voices; sharing opinions, questions and drawing conclusions
• Be curious, motivated and eager to know more
• Enjoy their geography learning
• Appreciate the purpose that Geographers play in everyday life and careers