Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

GEOGRAPHY

Our intent is to deliver a broad and balanced Geography curriculum that is ambitious and challenging.  We would like pupils to receive ‘a high-quality geography education that inspires in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives’ (National Curriculum for Geography).  It is designed to give all pupils, including those that are disadvantaged and pupils with SEND, the knowledge, understanding, skills and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.  We want to develop pupils’ essential knowledge, understanding and skills that they need to be ‘secondary ready’ and educated citizens.  Our aim is to expose pupils to subject specificity, introducing pupils to the best that has been taught and said, with an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.  The Geography curriculum is designed in a coherent and sequential way to increase pupils’ grasp of Geographical vocabulary and to ensure they can recall and remember what they have learnt through revisiting.  The aim is that pupils can apply what they know and what they can do with increasing fluency and independence.

It covers two of the five ‘Golden Threads’ that underpin our curriculum at Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School:

‘How our actions affect our world and cause harm’ and ‘How our world affects our lives’.

We also aim to include our Catholic Values and the UN Rights of the Child as central themes through all of our learning.

Our Geography curriculum is implemented through appropriate timetable choices where the teaching of Geography is spread over the whole year.  Pupils usually spend 2 hours a week being taught one of the ‘Golden Threads’, which includes Geography, History, Art and Design Technology.  Each of these subjects are revisited at regular intervals throughout the academic year.

Our planning is split into 3 phases- Phase 1: Knowing, Phase 2: Applying and Phase 3: Responding. The curriculum is underpinned by a rationale to teach Geographical vocabulary and language using high quality resources and there is a common understanding that knowledge and skills are acquired due to good teaching and teachers’ subject knowledge.  Reading is prioritised with modelled reading and opportunities for pupils to read high quality material balanced within lessons. The most trusted teaching methodology is applied by well-prepared and supported teachers to sequences of learning that show continuity and progression.  Planning takes into account the different starting points of pupils and ensures equal opportunities.  Key concepts are revisited to give those who have missed learning an opportunity to catch up.  The planning ensures SEND pupils have access to the curriculum through scaffolded support or differentiated outcomes. The subject matter is presented appropriately to allow learning to take place, promotes discussion, misconceptions are identified and teachers check whether pupils have understood what they have learnt. Resources are sourced and designed to help pupils remember content, which supports the intent of the curriculum, and the environment is pupil-focused to reflect these ambitious intentions. Learning is also delivered through map work, suitable fieldwork and exciting residential visits.

The Geography curriculum plans for mastery with extension questioning and memory retrieval through the use of: quizzes, songs, mnemonics and drills. 

Assessment is mainly through marking where teachers can inform future planning to achieve fluency and ultimately knowledge and skills are embedded in pupils’ long-term memory.