Learning

Geography

Intent

At Salisbury Manor Primary School, we aim to deliver a high-quality geography curriculum, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits, which inspires in pupils a curiosity about the world and its people.

We wish to instil a love for Geography in our pupils and develop their knowledge of the world, as well as their place within it, and encourage them to undertake new experiences throughout their life.We aim to provide all pupils with opportunities to investigate and build geographical expertise from their local area to the wider world. This includes locational knowledge, understanding of human and physical features and geographical and fieldwork techniques.
We will encourage pupils to ask questions and propose solutions to environmental problems within the local community and the wider world. Increasing awareness of environmental issues and the impact humans have aims to encourage pupils to become reflective members of society who consider their actions/choices and actively invest in protecting the planet.

The Salisbury Manor Curriculum for geography provides all children, regardless of their background, with:

Relevant and coherent substantive knowledge of the world that is built gradually using subject-specific pedagogy from EYFS to Year 6 and beyond.

Substantive knowledge is selected to build pupils’ understanding of three geographical vertical concepts:

Location and place

The location of the world’s continents, countries and places, and the key physical and human characteristics of each

Geographical scale

Considering the local, national and global scale and understanding how causes and effects occur at all scales

Interconnections

How are the human and physical worlds connected? How are different locations connected at different scales?

- A balanced view of the countries of the world, to address misconceptions and negative stereotypes.
- Explicit teaching of core disciplinary knowledge, and the ability to approach challenging, geographically-valid questions. Geographical enquiry skills have been sequenced across the year groups and, where appropriate, review and build on relevant knowledge that is first taught in mathematics or science, such as interpreting line graphs or setting hypotheses.
- Opportunities to undertake fieldwork, outside the classroom and virtually. Fieldwork is purposeful, and either gives pupils the opportunity to explicitly practise relevant disciplinary knowledge or to reinforce substantive knowledge.

Implementation

Teachers are provided with an additional three planning days per year in addition to their PPA, to plan their curriculum. As part of this planning process, teachers need to plan the following:   

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 
Low stakes quizzes which are used regularly to support learners’ ability to retrieve and recall knowledge and increase space in the working memory
Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner 
Trips and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience  
Appropriate curriculum themed home learning tasks which children complete with adults at home

Impact

Our Geography Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. 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 
A celebration of learning for each term which demonstrates progression across the school 
Tracking of gains in each quiz; 
 Pupil discussions about their learning;

Our Geography curriculum is also planned in a way which promotes the cultural capital of all our children. We enhance our curriculum especially for the most disadvantaged by organising fieldwork opportunities, guest speakers and keeping up to date with current local and worldwide events that happen at the current time.

Sustainability Curriculum

Why is sustainability so important?

In nature, each ecosystem has a carrying capacity. This is the maximum number of individuals that the area can sustain. The population will fluctuate around this carrying capacity and, when numbers become too high, the population is naturally reduced. This is not the case for humans. We live in a world where humans are the dominant species; we evolved such that we have been able to increase our population to a point that is not sustainable, one which is effectively beyond that natural carrying capacity.

The resources we rely upon for our own existence are ultimately finite. It is therefore important humans seek to live sustainably, not only for us, but for the species we share this planet with and for future generations. Living unsustainably not only threatens the lives of the animals and plants around us, but also the lives of our own species.

What does DfE say?

In April 2022, the then Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced the Department of Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change: A Strategy for the Education and Children’s Services Systems. He announced the education sector’s ambition to become a world leader in climate education.

The UK government acknowledged that children and young people are concerned about climate change and the impact that it is having, and they recognised that DfE has a role to play in preparing children for the challenges that this will present. In the policy paper they recognise that:

‘The challenge of climate change is formidable. For children and young people to meet it with determination and not with despair, we must offer them not just truth, but also hope. Learners need to know the truth about climate change – through knowledge rich education. They must be given the hope that they can be agents of change, through hands-on activity and, as they progress, through guidance and programmes allowing them to pursue a green career pathway in their chosen field.’

Salisbury Manor's Sustainability Curriculum

Is sequenced coherently, so that pupils are explicitly taught key vocabulary and concepts in science and geography, before they are expected to apply them elsewhere. Definitions and placeholder definitions are taught and then revisited methodically.
Requires no additional teaching time. We are building and developing concepts within existing units and lessons.
Is relevant for pupils. There are opportunities for pupils to consider local challenges and initiatives to reflect local species and schools’ own outdoor areas. When global challenges are considered, the curriculum allows pupils to consider how they can help in their local area or how they may be impacted.
Provides an objective but hopeful account; it needs to be factual and realistic about the challenges faced, but should also provide hope in celebrating achievements so far and actions that can be taken.
Will be updated annually to keep up to date with emerging technologies or scientific evidence. We therefore recommend that this document is revisited at the start of each academic year.