Geography

'Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future.' - Michael Palin

Intent

At St. Francis de Sales, we provide high quality Geography teaching that inspires in pupils a curiosity and a fascination about the world around them and its people, that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Our Geography curriculum will stimulate an awe & wonder of people and place. We will strive to equip children with the knowledge about diverse places, people, resources, natural and human environments together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key human and physical processes. As our children  progress, their growing knowledge about the world around them should help to deepen their understanding of an interaction between physical and human processes and the formation of landscapes & environments. This geographical knowledge, understanding and skill will provide the framework with which to explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

We aim to ensure that all pupils:

• Develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places, both land and sea – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the action of processes involved with these features;
• Understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, their interdependency and how they bring about spatial change and variation over time;
• Are competent in the geographical skills needed to: 
  (i) Collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes;
  (ii) Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS);
  (iii) Communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

Essential Knowledge:

Cohesion Strategy: 

Coherence is strengthened through our five essentials: Acquisition & Retention of Knowledge (fluency and recall underpin progress), Enriching Experiences (investigations and outdoor geography in other subjects), Independence (independent work), Oracy (reasoning through talk and explanation) and Understanding (application to new and varied problems and in Geography Across the Curriculum). Our curriculum ensures all pupils develop both competence and confidence in Geography, fostering a love of learning that endures beyond the classroom.

Implementation

Geography is a thriving subject in our school. Our teaching and learning  instill a sense of awe and wonder of the world and enables our pupils to become life-long learners and citizens of this planet, with a responsibility to care and protect this amazing gift.

Teachers become a catalyst and  role model through their appreciation and enthusiasm for the subject, sparking the children’s love of learning. Our ‘Challenge Without Limits’ approach builds on this and enables pupils to go beyond what they thought was possible and access higher levels of learning and understanding.

We stimulate pupils' minds by asking challenging questions and which require the children to use and apply their knowledge to demonstrate a deep understanding of the issues and topics. Teachers draw on their own experiences of the world, culture and travel to bring the subject alive and real to them in this age of virtual reality.

From Y3 to Y6 pupils revisit previous learning and are encouraged to make connections across subjects and year groups in order to deepen their knowledge and understanding. This is implicit in our planning and evident through the challenging questioning. Our fantastic Mastermind quiz is used to great effect in Geography, where children regularly practise their prior learning. Furthermore, fantastic enriching experiences at Formby National Trust, River Mersey study Delamere Forest, PGL and European trips help pupils apply classroom learning in real contexts and are a great opportunity for children to talk about what they have learned.
 

Impact

To improve the quality of our teaching and learning, we measure and assess the impact of our intent and implementation to help us refine and adapt our planning. This cycle of monitoring carried out by the Subject Lead with the support of Senior Leaders, ensures our Assessment Policy is followed consistently and is characterised by:

• Monitoring of books at deisgnated times in the year to ensure quality and consistency throughout the year groups.
• Observations take place yearly to ensure our school’s Formative Assessment Policy is being adhered to and how the use of questioning is used during the lesson to challenge children’s knowledge.
• Summative tests at the start of the topic and at the end of each academic year provide a measure of progress and enable some diagnostic analysis which informs our planning. 
• We often enjoy listening to the children give their feedback during our pupil voice sessions and yearly pupil surveys: we are able to gauge their depth of knowledge and understanding and enjoyment of the topics taught within the year. 
• An open door policy with staff ensures that an open and frank dialogue exists to discuss any issues with the planning, teaching and learning. 
• We also provide the opportunity for teacher voice with our yearly staff surveys: this transformational approach ensures the highest quality teaching within our school.
   

Geography Data

At entry, all pupils complete a low-stakes baseline in each subject, assessing baseline knowledge and understanding. Throughout the year, pupils revisit and revise key content using the same format. A final end-of-year/topic assessment evaluates retention.  Results inform teacher judgements and subject leader evaluations of curriculum impact. Scores are used to monitor the effectiveness of the curriculum, identify gaps in key components and support accurate teacher assessment of attainment and progress.