Geography

At Tweeddale our aims in teaching Geography are to stimulate children’s awareness, understanding and interest in their surroundings and to help them to develop informed opinions and concerns about their environment and its future. We also strive to encourage a sense of wonder and beauty about their world in order to enhance their sense of responsibility for care of the earth and its peoples.

In order to realise these aims, we strive to develop geographical knowledge and understanding about places that will enable our children to set local, national and international events within a geographical context. Children are also encouraged to develop an understanding of the significance of location and to begin look at distribution patterns (e.g. shops) in human activities and discover that places are linked by movements of people. As much as possible, our children are introduced to geographical enquiry, through observing, comparing, classifying, recognising, speculating, interpreting and appreciating, in order to gain the practical skills and attributes required for fieldwork.

Tweeddale itself sits within a multi-cultural community, and therefore it is of vital importance that our geography curriculum allows our children to develop an awareness and appreciation of, and a sensitivity to, ethnic, cultural and economic diversity.

Intent

At Tweeddale Primary School, we believe that Geography is key to sparking children’s interest in both the natural and human aspects of the world. We pride ourselves on our well resourced environment and classroom learning. 

Children are encouraged to develop a greater knowledge and understanding of the world, as well as their place in it, beyond their immediate locality. At Tweeddale, we follow the principles and programmes of study as detailed in the Geography National Curriculum for years one to six. Early Years pupils learn about Geography through the developmental statements for Understanding of the World in a Foundation Stage setting. Geography at Tweeddale is also implemented into the classroom through a range of interesting and imaginative topics. This allows the children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas they are learning about during a half term block. We seek to encourage children to be curious and fascinated with the world around them and its people. Therefore, children are exposed to diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments that have changed, developed or remained the same throughout time. Wherever appropriate the links between Geography and other subjects will be included. Geography provides good opportunities for cross-curricular links and topic related learning. The curriculum develops a set of skills that are both progressive and transferable, during their time at Tweeddale and education beyond. 

Implementation

Geography at Tweeddale is taught in topic based half terms to really enable the children to achieve depth in their learning. The teaching and learning process will enable pupils to develop the skills of enquiry, examining sources of evidence including diagrams and statistics, undertaking investigations through collecting and analysing data and proposing solutions. Pupils will be able to work in a variety of ways, including individually, paired or group investigations and whole class activities, depending on the type of learning and resources needed. Teaching methods consistently match the needs of the whole class, groups or individual pupils, as appropriate. These elements allow for progression across topics throughout each year. Progression in Geography is carefully considered and planned for, including children working at a greater depth level and learners being simultaneously supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion. We therefore believe that first hand experiences are an entitlement for all children. A range of resources are available in order to underpin the increasing complexity of geographical tasks, as well as widening the scale of study, for example from local to global, and across a range of time periods. Tweeddale pupils are also encouraged to develop and share their geographical knowledge through the frequent use of a class Geography News Book. Children research human and physical geography or natural disasters that have occurred globally (KS2) or in the United Kingdom (KS1). Pupils are also inspired to link their research to another aspect of their current learning, such as our ‘Language of the Month’ curriculum. This therefore establishes and reinforces cross curricular links further throughout the school. 

Impact

Outcomes that are evident in both topic and literacy books demonstrate the learning that has taken place alongside key geographic skills and knowledge. Children are given the opportunity to achieve lesson objectives, either independently or as part of a group, and deepen their understanding at the end of the lesson through resources given to them. As they progress through the school, children are able to understand their place in the world, as well as what it is like in other locations and what it has been like in previous times. When possible, organised school trips and fieldwork provide further relevant and interesting learning experiences. 

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