Cranborne Road, Newbold, Chesterfield, S41 8PF

01246 232370

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"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all"

Aristotle

Geography

"Without Geography, you are nowhere..."

Author Unknown 

Intent

At Newbold Church School our Intent is to provide pupils with a deep understanding of people, place and the environment. Our teaching of geography ensures every pupil has a better understanding of our human and physical world. The knowledge, skills and values that we aim to develop in geography can be used to make a positive contribution to the world through social and environmental action. We aim to provide real and enhanced experiences, to ensure every pupil develops a love for the subject and reaches their full potential. 

Geography provides an understanding of the 'world's discipline'. It helps to give order and meaning to a diverse and complex world. We aim to build a progressive curriculum through careful planning, in order to provide inspiring, inviting and stimulating lessons that build upon previous learning. It is our intention that the knowledge and skills that pupils are taught in geography lessons, can be transferred to other curriculum areas, and these skills can enhance learning, and the opportunities that we provide, even further. 

 

Implementation

At NCS, our geography curriculum follows the National Curriculum and provides children with an array of enriching opportunities, with a strong focus on outdoor learning. Our children experience a range of school trips, including our residential trip to Whitehall and a number of local area visits to develop the children’s awareness of their locality. In lessons, children develop their geographical enquiry skills though exploring physical environments, human interactions and how the two areas intertwine with each other.

Our geography curriculum encompasses the aims of the National Curriculum (see below) to ensure all pupils: 

  • develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places - both terrestrial  and marine - including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes. 
  • understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are independent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time. 
  • Are component in the geographical skills needed to: 
  • collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen the understanding of geographical processes.   
  •   interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) 
  • communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length. 

It is our hope that all Newbold Church school pupils will use their geographical skills  to participate fully in, and make a positive contribution, to life in our society. 

 

The National Curriculum outlines geography in education as seen below. 

Purpose of study

A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Aims

The national curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
  • understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
  • are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
  • collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
  • interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
  • communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

Attainment targets

By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.

Subject content

Key stage 1

Pupils will develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality. They will understand basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness.

Pupils will be taught to:

Locational knowledge

  • name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans
  • name, locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas

Place knowledge

  • understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of a small area of the United Kingdom, and of a small area in a contrasting non-European country

Human and physical geography

  • identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles
  • use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to:
  • key physical features, including: beach, cliff, coast, forest, hill, mountain, sea, ocean, river, soil, valley, vegetation, season and weather
  • key human features, including: city, town, village, factory, farm, house, office, port, harbour and shop

Geographical skills and fieldwork

  • use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans studied at this key stage
  • use simple compass directions (North, South, East and West) and locational and directional language [for example, near and far; left and right], to describe the location of features and routes on a map
  • use aerial photographs and plan perspectives to recognise landmarks and basic human and physical features; devise a simple map; and use and construct basic symbols in a key
  • use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.

 

Key stage 2

Pupils will extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

Pupils will be taught to:

Locational knowledge

  • locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities
  • name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time
  • identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)

Place knowledge

  • understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America

Human and physical geography

  • describe and understand key aspects of:
  • physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle
  • human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water

Geographical skills and fieldwork

  • use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied
  • use the eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and key (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build their knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world
  • use fieldwork to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies.
  •  

Our geography progression map 

Our progression map highlights the key curriculum areas that will be taught in each year group, and includes key questions and vocabulary which links directly to the knowledge organisers that children have in their books. You can read it by clicking below. 

 Geography progression document - UPDATE COMING AUTUMN 2023 

More detail concerning how key skills are taught within geography over the course of an academic year, or key stage, can be found on the knowledge organisers, as well as the progression document and knowledge and skill maps.

 For Knowledge Organisers, detailing more Geography specific content and vocabulary for each half term please click on the correct year group and term below. 

These knowledge organisers are used in every lesson with the class, to revisit prior learning, including key vocabulary and to introduce the enquiry question for the lesson. These are used alongside pupils to enable them to recall information, and use within lessons to support them further.  

 

 Our NCS Geography Policy can be found by clicking on this link .

Supporting Children with SEND to access all elements of the Geography sessions

All Geography sessions are planned to ensure that all children are able to access all elements. Specific adaptations are used to ensure all children can operate any equipment they need. For example, we use a variety of different sized maps to enable children to access map reading skills, and different forms of compass when learning about compass directions. 

As with all other areas of the curriculum, we use SEND codes to show how we will adapt our teaching to ensure all children are fully supported. This may include reducing the writing aspect of the sessions to enable children with Dyslexia to fully participate.

Where children need 1-1 support with a TA to be able to fully engage in the Geography sessions, this will be provided. 

As part of our monitoring processes we ensure that children with SEND are able to fully access all aspects of the Geography curriculum. 

 

Pupil Premium Children

As part of our monitoring processes we ensure that children in the receipt of Pupil Premium are able to fully access all aspects of the Geography curriculum. 

 

 

IMPACT


We use a range of strategies to assess what skills and knowledge the children have attained each term including the following:

  • Revision of core questions at the start of the lesson 
  • Book looks
  • Pupil Voice 
  • Regular feedback each lesson

 

Click these links below to rehearse your geography skills

 

WWF UK Conservation  Protecting wildlife, protecting oceans and coasts and so much more.

Links to develop your geography skills  understanding scale compasses and directions

BBC Bitesize Geography - KS1

BBC Bitesize Geography - KS2

Click these links to test your understanding of longitude and latitude.

Geography National Fieldwork Fortnight

The children took part in an outdoor Geography lesson as part of the National Fieldwork Fortnight. They learnt the cardinal and ordinal directions on a compass and transferred this knowledge to observe the human and physical features around our school grounds.
 
Please scroll down for 2023 -24 knowledge organiser links.

Year 1 trip to Chesterfield  as part of 'Location, Location, Location' topic. 

Year 4 trip to Holmebrook Valley park - fieldwork on rivers. 

Page last updated: August 2023