Geography
What is Geography?
At Preston Grange Primary, we define Geography as the study of the Earth. This includes physical features like rivers and mountains and the human features created and defined by humanity over thousands of years e.g. trade, settlements and countries.
Why do we teach Geography at Preston Grange?
We believe Geography to be an essential part of your child’s education as it allows them to access the great wealth of discoveries made over thousands of years and give them the key to understand the planet on which we live. It also equips them with the skills and knowledge to make sense of the world on a local and immediate scale as well as on an international and continental level. It is each child’s right to the best that has been thought and said and a knowledge rich Geography curriculum ensures access to exactly that.
How do we teach Geography at Preston Grange?
We teach Geography as a discrete subject to ensure that children can understand the discipline best. We ensure that they understand what Geography is, why it is important and the knowledge and attributes of a good geographer. However, we do not neglect the links between Geography and other foundation subjects. Through our use of a 3D curriculum we ensure that learning is meaningful and deep by drawing attention to the links between subjects within a year group, across year groups and across both.
We teach Geography in two 3-week blocks. This ensures the children learn deeply across a unit and allows for teachers and children to make the most of feedback.
We have structured our curriculum to start with the Geographical knowledge and understanding most appropriate to to the child at that point. Starting with the most immediate and experiential and building upon this to more abstract and complex concepts. Our curriculum is based on our children learning the facts, alongside the important how and why concepts of geography as well as being able to apply the practical skills of a geographer for example map reading.
We use two key documents in each unit we teach. The first is a Knowledge Organiser this outlines the key knowledge that a child will have at the end of a unit. If a child has this knowledge and retains it over time then they are making good progress. The second document is a Never-Heard-The-Word grid. This has key vocabulary the children will know, understand and be able to explain at the end of a unit. They will complete this at the beginning and the end of each unit.
What makes a good geographer at Preston Grange?
We believe a good geographer has a solid knowledge of the concepts and features they have studied. This knowledge must also be backed up by a depth of explanation and the ability to link together different areas of their understanding. By progressing from EYFS to KS1 to KS2, a good geographer shows a deeper, richer understanding of the world through their study and is ready to further progress into KS3.