Geography

Intent

At Seaside, we believe that children should leave the school fascinated by the wonders of Earth and with a curiosity to further explore its human and physical features. They should recognise connections and seek explanations about how the world works, thinking of alternative futures. We aim to provide children with a wealth of opportunities to apply their skills in both the local area and beyond, leading their own learning through questioning, researching and fieldwork.

Implementation

Throughout their time at Seaside, children draw on their own experiences and curiosity to shape our geography curriculum. Teachers are responsive to what children want to learn, providing opportunities for them to reconsider their existing understanding. 

Each year, children are active participants and investigators, applying their geographical skills to a range of settings on trips and residentials. Digital technology is used to support this and provides the opportunity to explore areas of the world which are out of our reach.

EYFS: Children begin by thinking about their personal geography: Who am I? Where am I? What is the world? They experience the world beyond classrooms through child-led discovery and walks, promoting both learning and personal development. It is through this that children begin to grow their curiosity and start asking questions.

KS1: Children develop their geographical understanding further, looking outside of their local area and developing subject-specific vocabulary. They are given ownership over their lines of enquiry and use fieldwork to build on their locational awareness.

KS2: Children bring together their previous learning, extending it further by ‘thinking geographically’ about our changing world. They become deeper critical thinkers, challenging different views and adopting new ones. Digital technology is used to enhance fieldwork opportunities and children become involved in assessing risks to them when off of school grounds.

Impact

Children leave Seaside as experienced, curious and knowledgeable geographers that understand key aspects of our world and the world we may live in in the future. They are ready to challenge stereotypes, further understand how the world works and use fieldwork in new and exciting contexts.

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.