Curriculum Intent
We aim to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We want children to enjoy learning about geography and develop their interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources, and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
Our Geography curriculum builds on children’s prior learning and develops their knowledge of the world around them so that they know more, remember more, and understand more.
Learning about Geography enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can and are used to promote their spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development.
Implementation
As a school within Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, we teach a scheme of work designed by a transition team of our primary school staff working with subject specialists from our secondary schools. This means our curriculum has been designed to ensure clear progression, in the acquisition of knowledge and for key skills, building on pupil’s prior learning. We teach termly, discreet topics for all pupils from Year 1 to Year 6.
The curriculum units of work have clearly identified minimum knowledge ‘end points,’ and have been sequenced to ensure that pupils know more and remember more as they move through primary school and transfer into KS3.
Our curriculum covers the National Curriculum and is underpinned by the building blocks of Geography (Threshold Concepts) which are emphasised and reinforced in the geography curriculum across our Trust schools from KS1 to KS5.
- Location and Place Knowledge
- Geographical techniques and terms.
- Physical features and processes.
- Human interaction with the environment.
Each unit of work has a clear rationale, key topic vocabulary, builds on pupil’s prior learning and defines the minimum knowledge and skills (end points) that pupils will learn. Assessment strands in topics give pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their learning and the knowledge companions that we call ‘Learn it! Link It! help pupils to remember the key elements of the topic. This helps pupils organise their learning into relevant areas and make links to other areas and subjects. Conceptual (Golden) threads of Geography such as cause, effect response and the ‘Geotrio’ of social, economic, and environmental factors, are woven through our curriculum to ensure consistency, add focus and promote purposeful learning.
Topics and units lay out sequential components of learning which equates to 8-10 hours of teaching.
EYFS
- My school environment
- Making maps
- Discovering fossils
- Where is our food grown?
- Contrasting locations - Willington, Seaham.
Key Stage 1
Topics include:
- The local area: where I live.
- Weather patterns
- A contrasting locality: Seaham
- A contrasting locality: Tanzania
- A contrasting location: Australia
- A contrasting location: Antarctica
- Where are we in the world?
- Around the British Isles
- Continents of the world
Key Stage 2
Topics include:
- Angry Earth: Earthquakes
- Angry Earth: Volcanoes
- Biomes: Deserts
- Swimming in Plastic
- Angry Earth: Japanese Tsunami of 2011
- Seaside Rocks/Coastal Erosion
- Migration
- Country study: North America
- Journey of the river
- Biomes: tropical rainforests
- Climate change is real
- Natural Resources/European comparison
- Settlements
Local Context of School
Our Lady & St Thomas Catholic school, Cumberland Terrace, Willington
We are a village In the North-East of England.
There is a strong Mining/Railway heritage and close to home of the Railway. Durham Cathedral close by. The main road leads to Durham City and is close to A68 .
River: The River Wear flows through Weardale at the bottom of Willington and through to Durham and then from Sunderland into the North Sea.
Curriculum Sequence
We have chosen to sequence the curriculum over a two-year rolling cycle. Years 3/4/5 will follow a 3 year cycle.
| Year A 2021-22 | Year B 2022-23 | ||||||
| Autumn | Spring | Summer | Autumn | Spring | Summer | ||
|
Class 1 Year R and Y1 |
Where I live Willington |
Contrasting location Seaham |
Contrasting location Tanzania |
Class 1 Nursery & Reception |
Marvellous me My school environment. |
The 3 little pigs Making Maps Dinosaurs Discovering fossils. |
Fabulous Farms Where is our food grown? Oh I do Like to be beside the seaside! Contrasting locations Willington/ Seaham |
|
Class 2 Year 2 |
Where i live Bp Auckland |
Magical mapping How do I know where I am? |
Weather Patterns |
Class 2 Year 1 & 2 |
Where i live The British Isles |
what a wonderful world | Australia |
|
Class 3 Year 3 and 4
|
Seaside rocks |
Angry Earth Volcanoes |
North America |
Class 3 Year 3 & 4 |
Angry Earth Earthquakes |
Biomes Deserts |
Swimming in plastic |
|
Class 4 Year 4 and 5 |
Seaside rocks |
Angry Earth Volcanoes |
North America |
Class 4 Year 4 & 5 |
Angry Earth Earthquakes |
Biomes Deserts |
Swimming in plastic |
|
Class 5 Year 6 |
Angry earth Japanese Tsunami |
Climate Change is real | Migration |
Class 5 Year 6 |
Angry earth Japanese Tsunami |
Climate Change is real | Migration |
| Year C 2023-24 | |||||||
| Autumn | Spring | Summer | |||||
|
Class 3 Year 3 and 4 |
Journey of a river River Wear |
Biomes Rainforests |
New Topic | ||||
|
Class 4 Year 4 & 5 |
Journey of a river River Wear |
Biomes Rainforests |
New Topic | ||||
Each topic includes a knowledge retention/recap element so that we build on prior learning.
Pupils take a quiz at the end of each topic which draws on their learning.
Impact
When pupils leave our school, pupils will know more, remember more, and understand more about Geography. They will have developed the geographical knowledge and skills to help them explore, navigate, and understand the world around them and their place in it.
The majority of pupils will achieve age related expectations in Geography and clear progress will be evident in their topic work and in topic assessed tasks. Outcomes in Geography books will demonstrate the pupil’s acquisition of key knowledge and topic, ‘end points’.
They will have the firm foundations in Geography and are well placed to make good progress at Key Stage 3.