Geography Curriclum
Geography Curriculum (Herne Junior School)
Intent:
At Herne Junior School, we aim to provide an education which inspires our pupils’ curiosity and fascination about the wider world through creative and exciting themes. We aspire to equip our children with the knowledge of diverse places, people and environments in order to become life-long and independent learners. The children will investigate a range of places, both in Britain and abroad to help develop knowledge and an understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes. We provide opportunities to solve problems, investigate and enquire about our local area, this will support children to develop an understanding of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special. We aim to give our learners strong geographical knowledge, good enquiry skills, the ability to use a range of maps, the skills to collect and analyse data and the ability to communicate information in a variety of ways. We want the children to have a love of geographical learning, gaining knowledge and skills through high quality teaching both inside and outside the classroom, utilising our fantastic school grounds. As the future generation responsible for our planet, we want our children to have a sense of respect for the world.
Implementation:
At Herne Junior School, we implement a progressive geography curriculum that builds on prior knowledge and skills year on year. The geography curriculum will be taught in response to driving questions which are aimed to be challenging, inspiring, creative, nurturing and encourage active learning. The learners will revisit geographical skills and knowledge in order to embed and deepen understanding. The lessons are carefully planned to ensure that all children are well supported in their learning and that opportunities for depth are planned for. We ensure that trips and visiting experts enhance the learning experiences for the children, enabling an immersive, creative and exciting curriculum. Our pupil’s geographical learning focusses on a variety of places; from Petersfield; to the UK; to Europe; North, South and Central America; and Africa. Their understanding of how their local area fits into the wider world is therefore gradually accrued.
Year 3 – Environmental Detectives (Petersfield – local area and Rainforests (tropical biome) – Central/South America).
Year 4 - Discover Norway (Europe), Exploring Habitats (polar/tundra, grassland, desert biomes).
Year 5 - Volatile Planet (earthquakes and volcanoes), Picnic in the Park (South Downs National Park - Hampshire and Yellowstone National Park – North America).
Year 6 – Power of Water (Rivers and coasts - UK), Revolution (Hampshire and Shropshire comparison).
Geography Genius – The children will complete a booklet each year focusing on geographical skills that are essential to their understanding of geography around the world. These will be progressive in nature and the children will develop their knowledge and understanding as they move through the school, building upon what they know and have learnt making them ‘Geography Geniuses’!
Elements of geography, particularly map work, are included throughout the history themes at Herne. For example in Year 3 using maps to locate ancient Roman trade routes and in Year 4, locating the main countries involved in World War II. Additionally, children will have the opportunity to use our school grounds to complete OAA in their PE sessions to explore map work first hand.
Impact:
When pupils leave the school, their learning in geography will have equipped them with knowledge and skills to understand diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As they progress, their growing knowledge about the world will have helped them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments as well as our role and responsibility in caring for our planet. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills that our pupils learn over the four years at the school provides the framework and approaches that help to explain how the Earth’s features are shaped, interconnected and change over time. The children leave the school with an appreciation of the world around us and a love for the subject!
“Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change. It is dynamic and relevant. For me, geography is a great adventure with a purpose.” Michael Palin.
