Geography

Intent

At Milton Mount, we are GEOGRAPHERS! We want our children to have a curiosity for and a fascination of our dynamic, fast changing and complex planet, so that they build a knowledge rich and awe inspired view of the world.

Geography at Milton Mount has been designed to ensure that our pupils have a strong sense of place within our local area, region, country and the wider world. It aims to give our pupils an understanding of its physical and natural resources as well as our diverse and culturally rich society. We enable our children to study the earth’s physical and human processes by understanding how the Earth’s features are shaped, inter-connected and how they change over time. As pupils progress, 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.  

Do More

The curriculum is designed to ensure that our children are actively engaged with Geography by seeking answers to overarching questions. This enquiry-led approach ensures that children develop geographical knowledge and skills which are revisited throughout a unit of work so that our pupils have the confidence to build on prior knowledge and  think as Geographers. We aim to plan lessons both in and outside of the classroom which engage and enthuse children in a variety of ways. For example, developing a wide range of mapping skills including digital mapping, engaging in fieldwork both in the locality and the wider area, using sources and evidence to compare and contrast physical features and through questioning and debate.

Know More

We aim for our children to develop a strong knowledge and appreciation of the area in which they live as well as the wider community, to enable them to acquire the skills to investigate and discover the wider world. In the Early Years Foundation Stage children develop oracy skills in order to question and talk about the world around them and to develop a sense of themselves and where they live. Units of work build on prior knowledge and enable children to enhance their geographical vocabulary, map skills, factual knowledge and their understanding of both physical and human world.  Planning progression documents ensure that cross-curricular links are made across both subjects in units of work that we teach,

Remember More

Lesson planning ensures that children revisit knowledge from the previous week, term and year. These ‘sticky starters’ enable pupils to recall their factual knowledge and for teachers to assess how they use recently acquired geographical skills, and how they are developing geographical vocabulary. Learning geography through enquiry allows our children to develop a rich knowledge of key geographical concepts and to acquire skills which allow them to question and debate.

Experience More

We enable our children to become Geographers by using our school grounds and local area wherever we can. From local walks in Year 1 to producing scaled maps in Year 6 through our Forest Schools programme, our curriculum makes the most of our semi-urban environment. all children have the opportunity to experience field work and to take part in visits. These have included a local river study, and a visit to Gatwick airport. In Key Stage 2, we use AI to help develop our children’s location knowledge and their experience the planet’s rich physical and human  geography.

 

Consider More

We aim for our curriculum to be inclusive and for our pupils to have the knowledge, skills and experience to connect and engage with our culturally rich society. Our aspiration for our children at the end of Year 6 is that they will have a strong knowledge and awareness of the world in which they live through a rich understanding of the processes and forces which shape our planet. They will have the ability to locate, discover and unearth what makes the area and wider world so dynamic in order for them to analyse, question and debate human impact and environmental change in the twenty-first century.

 

Implementation

Our ambitious curriculum is built around the principle that children will know more, do more and remember more. In Key Stages 1 and 2, Geography is planned around an overarching question which is broken down week by week into a series of smaller questions, with links made to other subjects where appropriate, such as science, history and English. Lessons require children to think deeply in order to answer these questions by applying the skills, knowledge and vocabulary that has been taught. Pre-learning tasks are used by the teachers to help shape the learning journey and achieve our ambition of the children ‘knowing more’. A combination of visitors, trips and a focus on first hand experiences, discussion and children ‘doing more’, ensure exciting and memorable learning experiences for all. Whilst ‘Sticky Starters’ are used to support the children in making links to what they have learnt ‘last week, last term, last year and beyond’, helping them to ‘remember more’.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, ‘People Culture and Communities’ aspires to develop the children’s ability to ‘describe their immediate environment’, and ‘explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries’. This is achieved by using knowledge from observation, discussion, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps.

In KS1, children begin to use maps and recognise physical and human features within the immediate school environment, Crawley, Brighton and London. Maps are used to teach the children about the four countries that come together to make up the United Kingdom and this builds to using maps and atlases to explore the continents and oceans of the world at the end of Year 2. Furthermore, in Year 2 children will begin to compare the South-East of England with Southern Nigeria and ask and answer geographical questions to deepen their knowledge of the human and physical geography in the contrasting countries.

In KS2, map skills are developed further using digital maps, more keys and symbols and children begin to use more fieldwork skills. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our lesson plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills and challenge. All children expand on their skills in local knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, geographical skills and fieldwork. Across both key stages, children have a range of opportunities to experience geography through practical engaging tasks beyond the classroom. Our lessons come with end of unit assessments to give the teacher and adults leading geography confidence in the progression of skills and knowledge and that outcomes have been met. Key words are also highlighted in each lesson pack, to be used by children to deepen their geographical knowledge.

Structure of a lesson

1. Geography lessons begin with ‘sticky starters’ which enable children to recall geographical knowledge from the previous week, the previous unit and the previous term. These starters provide children with the opportunity to respond and discuss the substantive concepts that they have previously learnt. Any misconceptions can be addressed before moving into that week’s lesson sequence.

2. Each geography unit of work has overarching enquiry questions which are addressed and answered through a sequence of learning statements. Pupils are made aware of the enquiry questions and they are provided with a learning sequence statement which helps to support teacher assessment. Lessons are planned to ensure that both substantive and disciplinary knowledge is taught through location and place knowledge, physical and human knowledge as well as mapping skills. Displays within each class provide a visible learning journey across a unit of work and feature learning sequence questions, examples of concepts and children’s work which can be referred to in the lesson.

3. An input follows the ‘sticky starter’. This might involve an explanation of a geographical process through photographs and videos, or using a digital map to locate a specific feature or teach into the height of land in different locations. Children might use sources and evidence such as photographs, videos, models, drawings and diagrams to develop their understanding of ‘place’ or take part in a vocabulary building activity. Questioning should build children’s geographical understanding and be used as a tool to allow the enquiry question to become a foundation for the lesson.

4. Tasks are planned to enable pupils to work independently, in pairs, small and large groups. In EYFS, children might use programmable toys, take part in role play or follow instructions using positional language. In KS1 children might go on a walk around Pound Hill or visit Gatwick Airport in order to enrich and enhance their geographical experience. In KS2 children will label maps, create sketch maps or using digimaps to measure distance or compare development in our local area. They have the opportunity to take part in fieldwork and use AI to develop their understanding of the world. They may also access maps, atlases, library loan books, digital technology and photographs. Provision in lessons is made for different needs within the classroom through differentiation and scaffolding to ensure that all children can respond to the learning sequence question or statements. Challenge questions provide for the children to further develop their knowledge and understanding of geographical concepts.

5.  At the end of the lesson, children have the opportunity to reflect on their leaning, to share their opinions, show that they have learnt or ask questions for further enquiry.

Impact

EYFS

In the Early Years curriculum Geography includes:

• Role playing places they have visited such as the fire station
• Talking about similarities and differences between themselves and others
• Exploring the local area and talking about meaningful buildings
• Following instructions which include positional language
• Sharing books about our world, the environment or the weather
• Treasure hunts using simple maps
• Using programmable toys and planning a route

Key Stage 1

Children will

• Develop their knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom with a specific focus on our locality
• Be taught subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and are encouraged to use geographical skills.
• Look at geographical similarities and differences through investigating their local area and a Nigeria
• Find out about their local environment in both areas and the people who live there
• know and locate the hot and cold places in the world
• Identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world as well as the four seasons
• Learn about the Equator and the North and South Poles and ask geographical questions about people, places and environments, and use geographical skills and resources such as maps and photographs.
• Use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans studied at this key stage
• Use simple compass directions as well as locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes on a map
• Use maps, sources and photographs to ask and answer questions about their local and wider area
• Use data, images, atlases and maps to collect and interpret information
• Express their own views about similarities and differences between locations and features through evaluation and debate

Key Stage 2

Children will:

•  develop excellent location knowledge of our urban, rural and globally connected region in relation to the United Kingdom and the wider world
• to be able to compare and contrast different areas and regions in different parts of the world and to appreciate their diversity and dynamism
• to understand how our world is interconnected and interdependent
• to confidently develop mapping skills and be able to use them in geographical enquiry and apply them in fieldwork
• to have opportunities to apply and develop geographical skills through excellent fieldwork
• to have a rich and knowledge of geographical vocabulary and be able to apply it in context
• to have the skills of enquiry which allow our children to confidently ask and answer questions and be able to gather information which will help them to think both critically and objectively
• to have an understanding and awareness of human impact on our planet
• to be imbued with a rich appreciation of our planet and a sense of curiosity in its richness
• have the skills to ask and investigate geographical questions and suggest enquiries to test them
• learn about the world by observing, collecting and reviewing data
• Use appropriate geographical vocabulary to analyse and communicate what they have learnt