Bitterne C of E Primary School Policy for Geography Headteachers Andy Peterson Last review- October 2014 Next review October2016 Signed by Chairs of Governors Cheryl Hubbard on behalf of Bitterne CE Primary School 1
Purpose of the policy The Nature of Geography at Primary School. A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge provides the tools and approaches that explain how the Earth s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time. NC 2014 History Purpose of Study Aims The national curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils: - develop contextual knowledge of the location of places, seas and oceans, including their defining physical and human characteristics - understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time - are competent in the geographical skills needed to: o collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes o interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) o communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps and writing at length. NC 2014 Aims The Geography Curriculum The National Curriculum 2014 sets out the programmes of study for each key stage. The specified content may be taught at any point during the relevant key stage. Planning for geography The planning for geography should follow the National Curriculum programmes of study for each key stage. The content to be covered is split into four areas: - Location knowledge - Place knowledge - Human and physical geography - Geographical skills and fieldwork In key stage one, pupils should learn about their locality, the United Kingdom and begin to develop their understanding of the wider world. In key stage two, pupils extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South 2
America. Teachers must consult the school s curriculum coverage overview document for specific details of what should be taught in their year groups. The planning should identify the development of the both knowledge and skills in geography. In planning this, teachers should refer to the separate documents progression of skills in geography, progression of fieldwork skills and progression in map skills which outline the expected skills to be developed in each year group. The planning for geography should follow the agreed format across the school. It should outline the Learning Journey over a unit with clear expected outcomes. The learning will be progressive and ensure the children are taught the skills, knowledge and understanding needed over the unit so that by the end of the unit good progress is evident. Barriers to learning should also be identified and teachers should plan ways to overcome these. The planning should not be over detailed or bureaucratic. The teacher must keep in mind that the planning is a working document that will change as the unit progresses as a result of assessment for learning. By the end of a unit, the planning will have annotations on it where barriers for individuals, groups or the whole class have been identified and addressed. SLT and the geography leader will monitor that the planning follows the agreed format but will not expect to the audience for the planning to be anyone other than the teacher themselves. SLT and the geography leader will however be looking at the impact of planning on the learning in a lesson or over time in the books. It may be that in lesson observations, the planning is not studied in detail as it is the learning in the class at the time as a result of the planning that will be judged. All planning should dedicate appropriate time to children working in geography for a sustained period of time for both teacher structured work and independent work. The productivity of the children over time is a key element of work scrutiny. It generally follows that good teaching with high expectations results in at least good productivity and therefore greater evidence of progress. Over a unit of work there should be a good variety of learning activities to interest and engage students. These could include: - fieldwork activities - creating and using maps and charts - sequencing and sorting - drama and role play - discussion and debate - using sources of various types including written sources, film clips, pictures, photographs, maps and data - taking part in relevant visits, undertaking suitably challenging site based work. Children should have planned opportunities to pose their own questions and investigate the answers to enquiry questions posed by teachers. They should be encouraged to draw comparisons of geographical similarities and differences, and make connections between places and peoples studied. A clear focus on appropriate differentiation and challenge should be evident in the planning and all children should talk enthusiastically about their geography learning. 3
Geography in Early Years Geography is taught in Year R as a part of the EYFS curriculum under the heading of Knowledge and Understanding of the world. It makes a significant contribution to the ELG objectives of developing a child s knowledge and understanding of the world through activities such as collecting postcards from different places, singing songs from around the world, and, for example, drawing a simple map of our school grounds whilst on a hunt for conkers as part of their investigation of Autumn. Learning Intentions and success criteria are an important tool, when used effectively, to ensure the thread of learning is clear to the children. It also helps them to know what their next step in the lesson is. On occasions, it may be that the teacher will deliberately not reveal the learning intentions at the start of a lesson and the pupils will be challenged to articulate what they have learnt later in the lesson. Guided geography groups- Within the geography lesson, there should be opportunities for the teacher to work with a small group in order to support the learning or provide challenge. These groups can be planned based on the assessment information from the pre-assessment, or they can be groups formed during a lesson where the teacher judges that a focus group would move the children s learning on. At all times, the groups will be flexible depending on what the children need. Opportunities should be planned for children to record their findings in a variety of means. A written outcome is not expected from every geography lesson as it is not always the most appropriate form of recording and writing can be a barrier to some children. If this is the case, teachers must plan how the learning will be recorded, and this could include drawings, sketchmaps, photographs, videos or voice recording of children. Where a written outcome is produced, the quality of the writing in the workbooks should be at least equal to that in other subjects. Fieldwork Fieldwork must be planned carefully by each year group team, in consultation with the geography leader and Head Teacher. This could be carried out off-site, but it should also be remembered that fieldwork within the school grounds is also valuable, enabling children to try out skills in a secure place, to be carried out off site at a later date. Fieldwork must be planned with learning intentions related to certain skills, places and themes. Fieldwork must conform to the school s policy for off-site activities and Health and Safety guidelines. Risk assessments must also be completed and approved by the Head Teacher prior to the activity taking place. Use of ICT ICT should be used widely in geography to support learning. This could be through the use of internet searches for information; examining sources available online such as maps and aerial photographs; using Geographical Information Systems (GIS); using GPS systems; accessing 4
sound clips or film clips; accessing databases; creating maps and charts; and children using ICT to present their ideas, to collate and present data. Links across the curriculum Geography should make clear links to other areas of the curriculum and teachers should reinforce their high expectations of reading, writing and maths in geography lessons. Links should also be made, where appropriate, to other areas of the curriculum. For example, if children use maps in history then explicit links to geography should be made. Links to reading Please refer to the Policy for Reading. Children should experience a wide range of reading and this includes in geography. This may be reading and understanding sources of information, or reading and interpreting data. Sources studied could include a wide variety of genres, such as recounts, letters, explanations, information texts, diaries and stories. Links to writing Children should be introduced to key geographical vocabulary in a progressive way across the school. The vocabulary should be modelled precisely by all staff and children should be expected to accurately use the vocabulary when speaking and in their written work. There should be examples of written work in geography which may include many different genres of writing. Recording could, for example, include the use of letters, posters, leaflets, instructions or explanations. The writing should follow the non negotiables for writing and should be of the same standard as the writing in English books. Links to speaking and Listening and spoken language. All adults model and develop children s speaking and listening by talking to children, asking questions, modelling new vocabulary and helping children to express their ideas orally. There should be planned opportunities to develop skills in speaking and listening in geography. All adults in school should be good role models for the correct use geographical vocabulary. Links to maths Please refer to the policy for maths. Children may encounter databases, data, graphs, maps, coordinates and scales in their study of geography. Assessment of Geography Pre and post assessment Children should complete a pre assessment at the beginning of every unit of geography unit taught. This should consistent of questions or tasks relating to the intended outcomes of the unit. The outcomes of the pre assessment should be recorded and used by the teacher to inform planning and differentiation. At the end of the unit of work, the same set of questions and tasks should be completed by children as a post assessment, and the outcomes again recorded to allow the geography leader to compare and evaluate progress. The outcomes of post assessments should be used by teachers when writing reports to parents at the end of the year. The use of pre and post assessments is also very important in allowing children to assess their own progress and see their learning following a unit of study. 5
Over time progress will be matched against National Curriculum expectations in the geography progression so that children s attainment in geography can be judged emerging, expected or exceeding for their age. Where attainment is well below that expected for their age a child would be judged to be working at a pre emerging level significantly below expected. Similarly where a child is performing well above expected their performance would be judged as exceptional. Marking and feedback The geography work should always be marked in accordance with the Marking and Feedback Policy. There should be a tick, tip and time given for talkback activities to respond to the marking. The tip should be the next step to improve the geography work and should be linked to the learning intention and success criteria. During geography sessions, the adults should be pen marking the work already done and giving advice on how to improve further in the lesson. During the lesson, teachers should be questioning to check or probe the child s understanding, identifying and tackling misconceptions and adapting planning for individuals, groups or the class accordingly. In addition, the children should be encouraged to self-assess frequently using their red, orange and green cups (Year 2 and above) and teachers should use this information to inform groupings for support and challenge. Pupil views in geography The pupils will be asked regularly what makes their learning in geography successful. This can be done orally or through a written survey. The geography leader will collect this information, analyse it and report to staff and governors on the children s perception of their learning in geography. Inclusion and Geography All children should make good progress in each unit of geography. This should be achieved by clear and appropriate support and challenge; the accurate use of on-going assessment; prompt and high-quality marking and feedback; and quality first teaching. Teachers should ensure that they appropriately support and challenge all pupils in lessons to ensure equal progress of all groups. Leadership of Geography The role of the Geography Leader - Should have a clearly communicated and ambitious vision for geography, securely based on accurate evaluation of the school s strengths and areas to develop. - Should be relentless in ensuring that the geography in the school follows this policy, which will result in greater consistency in the teaching and learning for geography. - Undertake regular monitoring activities for geography (undertake learning walks, pupil conference, data analysis, work sample, planning scrutiny etc) This policy will be reviewed every 2 years or sooner as appropriate. 6