Intent

At Wanstead Church School, our Geography curriculum inspires our children to have an appreciation for our world and their place in it so that they can shine their light for others.

We develop Wisdom, Compassion and Strength in our Geography curriculum:

Wisdom: Our Geography curriculum nurtures an interest in facts and knowledge about the world, encouraging a curiosity and fascination about our incredible planet. Our children leave our school equipped with life skills, practical knowledge and leadership experience that enables them to continue to learn about the natural and human-made aspects of our world.

Compassion: Our Geography curriculum equips children 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. Our children link their learning to our local area and areas around the world and they show respect, kindness and friendship in all they do.

Strength: Our Geography curriculum provides a progression in geographical skills and knowledge that inspires children's curiosity and fascination about their world and builds on prior knowledge. Our children learn how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider world through an understanding of the interconnectedness of the world as a whole.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Geography, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. The Geography curriculum at Wanstead Church School is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage. Teachers plan exciting lessons for their class using our curriculum overview. The progression document ensures the curriculum is covered and the skills/knowledge taught is progressive from year group to year group. Geography teaching focuses on enabling children to think as geographers. A variety of teaching approaches are used based on the teacher’s judgement. Geography provides excellent opportunities to enhance the learning of all children through investigations, analysis, sources and writing.

At Wanstead Church School, we provide a variety of opportunities for Geography learning inside and outside the classroom. Educational visits and field work are opportunities for the teachers to plan for additional geography learning within the environment. The children regularly visit the local area, including the local woods and green spaces. As children advance through the Key Stages, they encounter greater challenges to expand their knowledge and skills. Lessons are planned to incorporate interesting facts and excite the children by immersing them into the topic and making it relevant to them.   

Impact

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught.
• Summative assessment of child discussions about their learning.
• Interviewing the children about their learning (child voice).
• Marking of written work in books.