Geography at Maple Court Academy

Subject: Geography

Subject leader: Miss Robson

Intent

Geography at Maple Court Academy is an essential subject in our wider curriculum. Through well-planned and exciting lessons, the Geography curriculum aims to build on the knowledge, skills and understanding of all pupils.

At Maple Court Academy, the Geography curriculum covers every aspect of the national curriculum for Geography for Key Stages 1 and 2.

It is our intent for the Geography curriculum to inspire our pupils to want to learn more about the world and its people, as well as the challenges it faces. The teaching of this subject will equip our pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments.

As our pupils progress through our school and increase their Geographical skills, their growing knowledge about the world will help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.

In Geography it is our intent to inspire our children to want to know more about our planet, particularly the environment and the challenges we face. We want our pupils to engage in current issues around the world so that they can help build a prosperous world for the future.

Educational visits and outdoor learning opportunities provide excellent opportunities for our pupils to become ‘Geographers’ and build on their map skills and participate in fieldwork activities.

As the subject leader for Geography, I monitor the delivery of Geography through termly book scrutinies, learning walks and pupil voice. I also answer questions from colleagues who have questions about planning, resourcing and delivering lessons.

The curriculum

Geography at Maple Court Academy comprehensively covers the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 National Curriculum for Geography.

Geography is taught weekly in every year group. Each lesson is an hour long and consists of:

  • Introduction to the lesson and the learning outcome
  • Retrieval practise to revisit previous learning
  • Word Aware to learn new vocabulary
  • Lesson Content and learning activities
  • Plenary

EYFS

In EYFS, children begin to develop their geographical knowledge by exploring features of our school and its surroundings. Maps, atlases and story books are used to investigate different places as we begin to compare and contrast different environments. Children have rich opportunities to make use of school grounds to enhance and apply their skills as geographers. Throughout the year, children observe and discuss the weather and seasonal changes. Children also learn about the different jobs which people do in our community.

As children move into KS1, they build on these strong foundations, developing their locational awareness, geographical skills and knowledge of physical and human geography. As well as learning about local geography, children enjoy having the opportunity to learn about different countries and places around the world including Africa.

Assessment for learning

At Maple Court Academy, assessment is ongoing throughout every lesson with teachers identifying strengths, misconceptions and next steps. Teachers use this information to feed into subsequent learning sessions. Retrieval practice is a key element of every session, revisiting prior learning. Whiteboard work, partner discussion and questioning are just some of the strategies that we use to identify children’s progress towards the learning outcome, identifying children’s understanding and progress.

Pupil voice

‘I like about the Earth and all the animals that live here.’ – EYFS

‘I like looking at maps and where my school is. I can draw a map!’ – Year 1

‘I like learning about different countries and continents. I enjoyed singing songs about them.’ – Year 2

‘I like enjoyed about the capital cities of the UK and learning facts about them.’ – Year 3

‘My favourite part of Geography is learning about natural disasters. It was very exciting learning about tsunamis.’ – Year 4

Geography Curriculum Documents

Photographs

Pupils thrive and learn well at Maple Court Academy.

| Ofsted 2023

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