Geography

Subject Statement of Intent   At Holy Rosary we believe that Geography helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. Children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops and understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills.

We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote the children’s interest and 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. The curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their time at Holy Rosary and also to their further education and beyond.

The Geography curriculum at Holy Rosary aims to enable all children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can and are used to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Our children should also know how Geography reflects and shapes our history and how it contributes to the cultures of our world.

Implementation Geography is taught as the main key focus for two weeks during each curriculum block unit. We implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum and ensuring that coverage of the National Curriculum is complete. In Foundation Stage, Geography is taught through Knowledge and Understanding of the World.

What we teach at Holy Rosary:

Key knowledge and Progression 

Curriculum overviews showing knowdlge and skills across all key stages can be downloaded below.

Assessment

The Geography curriculum at Holy Rosary is based upon the National Curriculum, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills and taught in each Key Stage. Teachers plan lessons for their class using our progression of key knowledge and skills document. Teachers can use this document to plan their geography lessons suitable to their class’s interests. The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group.

In Foundation Stage, Geography is assessed using the Early Learning Goals and Development Matters. This is recorded using Insight and Tapestry. 

In KS1 and 2 class teachers assess before, during and after each unit.

Weekly quizzes are compiled by teachers and used to ensure recall and retrieval of the key knowledge. 

Geography is assessed using concept maps to identify what children have learnt and data is imputed into Insight Tracker. 

Impact

We aim for all pupils to: Develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes Understand geographical processes that form key physical and human geographical features of the world Understand how these processes are interdependent and how they bring change over time Be able to collect, analyse and communicate a range of data gathered through fieldwork Interpret a range of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Communicate geographical information in a variety of ways.

What our children say about Geography at Holy Rosary:

Y3- Tristian said that Geography is his favourite subject. He likes to see where we are on a map and find different places he enjoys going to.

Y4- Talia says that Geography lets her find out all about the world, it helps her to learn about and see new places. Thomas says it can sometimes be challenging, but he really enjoys his lessons!

Y5- Chloe says that Geography makes her feel adventurous. She would love to visit some of the places she has learnt about. Toby has said that he has got much better at using maps and he can use them to help him learn about the world.