Why Teach Geography?
“Geography is a subject which holds the key to our future” Michael Palin
“Geography explores the past, illuminates the present and prepares us for the future. What can be more important than that?” David Attenborough
Geography provokes and answers questions about the natural and human worlds, using different scales of enquiry to view them from different perspectives. It develops knowledge of places and environments throughout the world, an understanding of maps, and a range of investigative and problem solving skills, both inside and outside of the classroom. As such, it prepares pupils for adult life and employment. Geography is a focus within the curriculum for understanding and resolving issues about the environment and sustainable development. It is also an important link between the natural and social sciences. As pupils study geography, they encounter different societies and cultures. This helps them realise how nations rely on each other. It can inspire them to think about their own place in the world, their values, and their rights and responsibilities to other people and the environment.
Intent
At Theale Church of England Primary School, we will ensure that all children attain the highest standards of achievement. We hope that this will lead to lifelong interest in Geography and enable further study to the highest level should that be the wish of the children.
Through the study of geography, children are expected to develop knowledge, skills and understanding in the following areas:
- Geographical enquiry and skills.
- Places, patterns and processes.
- Cultural identities.
- Environmental change and sustainable development.
Impact
Our main aims in teaching geography are that children will:
- Enjoy and have positive attitudes towards the subject.
- Develop a sense of identity through learning about places and environments throughout the world.
- Have an interest in interpreting and understanding maps.
- Understand the environment in relation to the wider world.
- Make links with other areas of the curriculum including, where appropriate, ICT.
- Have an appreciation of and respect for cultures, societies, religions and countries including their own and recognise their interdependence.
Implementation
At Foundation Stage
Geography will be taught through Knowledge and Understanding of the World and the local area.
At Key Stage One
Teachers will ensure that geographical enquiry and skills are used when developing knowledge and understanding of places, patterns and processes, environmental change and sustainable development. In undertaking geographical enquiry children should be taught to:
- Ask geographical questions.
- Observe, record and communicate (in different ways) their own views about people, places and environments.
- Use geographical vocabulary and field work skills, maps, globes, plans and secondary sources of information.
- Make maps and plans. Identify and describe where places are and what they are like.
- Recognise how places have become the way they are, how they change and compare them to other places.
- Recognise how places are linked to other places in the world.
- Make observations about where things are located and other features in the environment.
- Recognise changes in physical and human features.
- Recognise changes in the environment and how the environment may be improved and sustained.
Breadth of Study
Children should study two localities: the locality of the school and a locality (either in the UK or overseas) which contrasts with the school locality. The children should study at a local scale and carry out fieldwork investigations outside of the classroom.
At Key Stage Two
Teachers will ensure that geographical enquiry and skills are used when developing knowledge and understanding of places, patterns and processes, environmental change and sustainable development. In undertaking geographical enquiry children should be taught to:
- Ask geographical questions.
- Collect, record and communicate evidence (in ways appropriate to a specific audience).
- Present their own and others’ views about geographical issues.
- Analyse evidence and draw conclusions.
- Use geographical vocabulary and field work techniques, maps and plans with a range of scales, globes and secondary sources of information, including aerial photographs.
- Draw maps and plans at a range of scales.
- Use decision making skills and ICT in geographical investigations.
- Identify and describe where places are and what they are like.
- Locate places and environments studied and other significant places and environments.
- Recognise how places have become the way they are, why they change, how they may change in the future and compare them to other places.
- Describe and explain how and why places are similar to and different from other places in the same country and elsewhere in the world. Recognise how places fit within a wider geographical context.
- Make observations about where things are located and other features in the environment.
- Recognise changes in physical and human features and explain how these can cause changes in places and environments.
- Recognise how people can improve or damage the environment and how decisions about places and environments affect the quality of people’s lives.
- Recognise how and why people may seek to manage environments sustainably and to identify opportunities for their own involvement.
Breadth of Study
The children should study two localities: a locality in the United Kingdom and in a country that is less economically developed. The children should study three themes: water and its effects on landscapes and people, including the physical features of rivers or coasts and the process or erosion and deposition; how settlements differ and change and an issue arising from changes in land use; and an environmental issue caused by change in an environment and attempts to manage the environment sustainably. In their studies children should study a range of scales – local, regional and national. In addition, they should study a range of places and environments in different parts of the world, including the UK and the EU. Children should have the opportunity to carry out fieldwork investigations outside of the classroom