Leigh Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School
|
Leigh Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Geography Policy
Aims In accordance with the importance we attach to Geography, our schools aims to:
Other policies linked to Geography English, Maths, PSHE, History, SEND, Marking, Teaching and Learning.
Roles and Responsibilities At Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Leigh, we use a number of teaching and learning styles within Geography lessons. Our main aim is to ensure there is subject provision to enable our pupils to perform highly by knowing more, remembering more, understanding more and doing more, as young Geographers. We believe our pupils learn best when they:
Curriculum planning and organisation Provision in Geography has been carefully designed to ensure both continuity with prior learning and progression from EYFS – Y6 in: Substantive knowledge – what our pupils will know by the end of each enquiry; Disciplinary knowledge – the subject skills and techniques our pupils will master and apply in order to understand the significance of what they know; Conceptual understanding – Increasing awareness and application of second order and substantive subject concepts; The acquisition of subject specialist vocabulary and technical terms in order to communicate their understanding effectively. This continuity, sequencing and progressions of Geography provision is detailed in our planning documentation through Long Term Plans, Medium Term Plans and our pupils books. In EYFS and Key Stage 1 To recognise aspects within their local environment, e.g. a tree in the school grounds. To identify – for example distinguishing something or someone from others that may be similar. To describe – give an account in words of something or someone e.g. the events leading up to the sinking of the Titanic To observe – identify and distinguish with a degree of analysis some things that may potentially be more noteworthy or important than others for example, the size and relationship of the continents. To select – decide upon and choose that information considered most suitable or relevant to answer a question e.g. from a range of eight possibilities, select three factors more likely than the others to have caused the Great Fire of London to spread so quickly. To categorise / classify – arrange information into particular groups according to shared qualities or characteristics e.g. categorising the human features of the school. To sequence – place a set of related events or things that follow each other into an order e.g. life cycles. To compare and contrast – Find similarities and differences e.g. between the geography of the local area of the pupil’s school and that of the immediate environment surround a similar sized school in Kenya. To recall – to remember and recount something learned or experienced e.g. how a local river changes from its source to mouth. To reason / speculate – Thinking and forming ideas about something without necessarily firm evidence yet to back it up e.g. why earthquakes are generally more hazardous to people around the world than volcanoes? In Key Stage Two To summarise – outline or sum up briefly the main points about something e.g. how Fair Trade works. To synthesise – bring together a range of ides and facts from different sources to develop an explanation for something e.g. the deforestation of tropical rainforests. To explain – demonstrate understanding and comprehension of how or why something is the way it is e.g., why most of the great stone cities of the Maya were abandoned by AD 900. To empathise – to place oneself impartially in another’s position to better understand their motives, decisions and actions (even if they are not shared values) from their perspective e.g. flooding in local areas. Informed conclusion – a knowledgeable summing up of the main points or issues about something e.g., why there are increasing numbers of wind and solar farms to be seen in Britain. Reasoned judgement – a personal view or opinion about something supported by factual evidence e.g. an argument for banning all single use plastic. Justify – to give reasons to show or prove what you feel to be right or reasonable e.g. why or what should be done to reduce water us by people in the UK. Apply – to transfer knowledge and/or skills learned in one context to a different context e.g. awareness that the process of river erosion is the same as the erosion of coastal cliffs. Evaluate – to weigh up and judge the relative importance of something in relation to counter ideas and arguments e.g. the costs and benefits of planting many trees in Britain. Critique – to review and examine something critically particularly to gain an awareness of its limitations as evidence e.g. why might the imagery on a website promoting a location as a holiday destination, not be entirely reliable? Hypothesise – to come up with an idea, question or theory, which can be investigated to see whether it has any validity e.g. that ice sheets could be towed from Antarctica to reduce water shortages in South Africa. Cross-Curricular Links In our planning, we have made meaningful links with other National Curriculum subject areas such as reading and writing through our themed approach for English. We consider links to both Mathematics and English important to ensure we add value to the building of geographical knowledge and understanding – progressing subject knowledge through high levels of Literacy and Numeracy within Geography. Our planning also coincides with Design and Technology, History and Art to incorporate these into Geography lessons. Our curriculum is planned over a one-year cycle throughout EYFS – Year 6 to enable continuity for our learners. Assessment and Reporting At Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Leigh, ongoing assessment is used to inform planning, to support differentiation and ensure children are making good progress. The school’s marking policy is used to mark pupils’ work and provide next steps. Attainment is assessed at the end of each unit of work against the EYFS Framework and the National Curriculum, through the OTrack assessment platform. This information is passed on to the next teacher to ensure progression through Geography continues each year. Pupils’ progress within Geography is reported to parents twice a year at Parents’ Evening and in the children’s end of year reports. Monitoring takes place through sampling of children’s work and book scrutiny as well as through lesson observations.
Resources
SEND / Inclusion / Equal Opportunities At Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Leigh, we ensure that pupils can engage with geographical learning and develop as young geographers irrespective of their race, cultural background, gender or religion. Mutual respect and the fostering of empathy and community understanding at a local, regional, national and global level, lies at the heart of study of Geography and at our school we model this in terms of inclusion through the learning and teaching we provide. Differentiation and access to learning for all is fundamental and a core element of inclusion and so we plan and resource our learning to enable all pupils to make good progress in Geography from EYFS – Year 6. Parental Involvement We invite parents / family members with any interest or expertise in particular Geography topics to come into school to share this with our children. We have a number of parents who volunteer to do so, representing the local community and providing our children with valuable learning experiences.
Written by: Miss. Bailey – Geography Subject Lead and the Humanities Team.
Date: 4th May 2022
Policy Review Date: May 2024 |
