Intent:

At Pyrcroft Grange our Geography curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Children will investigate and learn about a range of places, both in Britain and abroad, to help develop their knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s physical and human processes.

We are committed to providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area of Chertsey, Runnymede and Surrey so that they can develop of real sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special.

We aim to also develop the children’s ability to apply geographical skills to enable them to confidently communicate their findings and geographical understanding to a range of audiences.

Through high quality teaching, we develop the following essential characteristics of geographers:

• An excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like, both in Britain and the wider world;
• A comprehensive understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected;
• An extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary;
• Fluency in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills.
• The ability to reach clear conclusions and explain their findings;
• Excellent fieldwork skills as well as other geographical aptitudes and techniques;
• The ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current issues in society and the environment;
• A genuine interest in the subject and a real sense of curiosity about the world and the people who live here.

Implementation:

Teachers are supported to plan an inspiring curriculum which asks ‘big questions’ to motivate our pupils into becoming enthusiastic geographers. As part of the planning process teachers will plan for;

• A knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) all children must master and apply in lessons;
• A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth concentrating on the geographical skills suited to the age group;
• Cross Curricular links with other subjects.
• High expectations for all pupils with Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner;
• Trips and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience;

Impact:

Our Geography Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression.

We ensure that -

• Children have opportunities to explore the outdoor learning environments, both within the school grounds and local community  
• Our children will be confident geographers and be able to clearly discuss their learning from past and current topics
• There will be a clear progression of skills across Key Stage 1 and 2 that builds on prior knowledge that can be demonstrated in books 
• Pupils will leave Pyrcroft Grange with a strong knowledge of their local area and a confidence of the location of other countries and cities around the world.
• All pupils will be able to discuss and recall a variety of events and where they happened in the world.
• Children will be able to explain aspects of human and physical geography and confidently use maps and atlases (physical and digital). 
• Out-of-class opportunities ensure geography is ongoing and embedded as part of our school ethos e.g. Eco Heroes which allows children to take responsibility for looking after their environments.
• Continued training and support for teachers ensuring they are the experts in the subjects that they teach.

If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes
• Use of the knowledge organiser as a form of assessment, tool to activate prior learning
• An end point assessment opportunity for each area of learning per year group which demonstrates progression of knowledge and skills learned.
• Pupil discussions about their learning, displaying an understanding of key knowledge and interconnected links.
• Teachers base their judgement of the pupil’s knowledge, learning and understanding to record their outcomes on a windscreen