Geography

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At Barnes Farm Primary School, we follow a Topic approach for Geography. The topics are informed by the National Curriculum. Each year group studies termly or half-termly topics.  Our intent for Geography is to teach a rich and progressive curriculum and widen and deepen the children’s knowledge of their local area, country and the world beyond. We aim to equip our pupils with a strong set of geographical skills, helping them understand and apply the skills and knowledge they have learnt.

The aim of our Geography curriculum is for children to:

  • Develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it.
  • Provide opportunities to investigate, encouraging them to develop concepts, knowledge and skills.
  • Develop a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
  • Develop an understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
  • Collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data through experiences such as fieldwork.
  • Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems.
  • Develop and use their skills in enquiry, investigation, analysis, evaluation, and debate.

In the Early Years, the children are given many opportunities to explore the World around them and develop their geographical knowledge and understanding. They observe the similarities and differences between places and talk about their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. We use Mantle of the Expert to introduce topics to the children and this forms part of their enquiry.

In Key Stages 1 and 2 the school has identified the key knowledge and skills of each Geography topic. Consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group and across the school. 

At the start of each topic, we engage the children with a question, which provokes discussion. This allows the teacher to assess the children’s prior knowledge of the subject and also allows the children to gain further understanding of the areas of learning. At the end of the topics, the children have time to reflect on their learning and answer the big question again displaying the progression of skills learnt.