Carlton Colville Primary School

Below is our whole school Geography overview for this academic year. For more detailed information about Geography, please view the termly overviews within each of the year group class pages.

At Carlton Colville, we believe that children should be able to explore, appreciate and understand the world in which we live now and how it has evolved. We stimulate curiosity and imagination and encourage learning through field work. Geography teaching motivates children to find out about the physical world and enables them to recognise the importance of sustainable development for the future of mankind.

To be a Geographer at Carlton Colville, we focus on the following geography learning intentions:

• To enable children to gain knowledge and understanding of places in the world including key features and how places in the world are changing;
• To increase children’s knowledge of other cultures and in doing so, teach respect and understanding of what it means to be a positive citizen in a multicultural world;
• To allow children to learn graphic skills, including how to draw and interpret atlases;
• To enable children to compare their life and local environment with other regions in the U.K, Europe and the rest of the world;
• To enable children to understand environmental problems at a local, regional and global level;
• To develop in children a variety of other skills, including those of enquiry, problem solving, ICT, investigation and that of presenting their conclusions in the most appropriate way;
• To use different types of fieldwork sampling to study human/ physical features of the local area;
• To inspire curiosity through asking and answering Geographical questions.
   

The geography curriculum is led and overseen by our Humanities Team. A regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and staff support takes place along with the celebration and sharing of good practice. 

Geography is usually taught as a discrete subject. One of the ongoing curriculum drivers that underpins our curriculum is 'Knowledge of the World' This helps the children learn about their locality and how they fit into the world around us.  Teachers use a variety of teaching pedagogical approaches and methodologies in our geography lessons. 

Children are continually assessed focusing on the breadth of their learning, and more importantly, on the depth of their learning. Teachers will continually assess the acquisition of skills and knowledge throughout each session and will reinforce, support or challenge pupils accordingly to deepen their understanding and master techniques. Pupils are encouraged to peer and self-assess, e.g. considering form or effectiveness and how these can be modified and improved. As the children move through each year group, class teachers are assessing against the key indicators specifically if the children are working at a basic level, advance level or deep level of learning. 

The main method of gathering evidence and assessing achievement in Geography is made through a continuous process of teacher observation.  This is an informed assessment based on knowledge of the pupil and the content of their work.  Other formative assessment used includes:

• Observing children
• Live feedback
• Effective questioning
• Probing and quizzing

The Humanities Team ensures that we have sufficient resources in our school to be able to teach geography. Resources are linked to themes and are mainly kept in year group areas although some resources are shared and kept in a central store. Any online resources such as Digimaps are made accessible to teachers to enhance learning. All resources are updated when needed.

The teaching of Geography offers opportunities to support the social development of our children through the way we expect them to work with each other in lessons. Their work in general enables them to develop a respect for other children’s levels of ability, and encourages them to cooperate across a range of activities and experiences. They learn to support and encourage each other, and appreciate the benefits of constructive criticism. 

Fieldwork is integral to good Geography teaching and is part of our ethos of ‘Geography through our feet’. We include as many opportunities as we can to involve children in practical geographical research and enquiry within every year group's curriculum.

Assessment
Our bespoke assessment systems enables teachers to make informed judgements about the depth learning and the progress each pupil has made over time. Critically this then enables teachers to identify and therefore address any gaps in pupil’s geography knowledge.
Through skilled questioning, teachers pick up on any misconceptions which they rectify through live feedback during the lessons and through marking of pupils' work.
 

• The children can talk about their learning of geography and use specific vocabulary as outlined in the progression document.
• Work is of good quality and demonstrates pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary in an appropriate sequence.
• Children engage in a range of activities to support the teaching of Geography, including the use of visual resources, published books, written materials and the use of ICT.
• Children are given the opportunities to learn in the field, with trips, local walks, the use of local resources and the use of our extensive school grounds.
• Most children will make at least good progress in Geography.
   

Nancy - "I enjoy Geography because I've been to lots of places. I like to label the physical features of different locations".

Rose - "I enjoyed learning about different foods from around the world".

Amy - "Using resources, like an atlas, really helps me with my learning".

Ronnie - "I like learning the names of different countries and their capital cities".

Harry - "I love to think like a Geologist".