Geography

Geography 2020

 

Statement of Intent 

At Oasis Academy Henderson Avenue we aim for a high quality geographical curriculum which inspires curiosity and fascination about the world and the people who live in it. At our academy we believe that Geography helps provoke and answer questions about the natural and human world, encouraging children to develop a greater understanding of where their place in the world is and their responsibilities within it that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. 

 

Through the driver of community, we want our children to explore and learn about their immediate locality and be aware of the variety of places they can explore within it.  We would like children to be mindful that they are part of a global community and understand where their place in the world is. Through the driver of possibilities, we want our children to understand why geographers study different places in the world and the people within it, so that the children understand that they too can explore new and exciting places that are not just in the local area. 

 

Through the framework of the National Curriculum, geography aims to

In Key Stage 1 to: 

·      develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and children’s immediate locality.

·      introduce basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography.

·      begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness. 

 

In Key Stage 2 to:

·      extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America.

·      study the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. 

·      develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

 

Through the teaching of our skills based curriculum the children cover the content of the National curriculum through three Threshold Concepts and explore these in every year group in order to gradually increase their understanding of them. 

These are: 

·      Investigating places

·      Investigating patterns

·      Communicating geographically 

 

The children will explore these concepts throughout each year group in a cyclical cycle, building on previous knowledge learnt in current milestones and previous milestones in a range of contexts, topics and activities.

 

 

Statement of Implementation

Because the threshold concepts are repeated in each year group it is important that children progress in their understanding of them. Our curriculum sets out this progression in the form of three ‘Milestones’. Each Milestone contains a range of descriptors which give more detail to be discovered within the concept. Over a two-year period children will become more and more familiar with these details by exploring them in a breadth of contexts. The Milestones are:

Milestone 1 – Years 1 and 2

Milestone 2 – Years 3 and 4

Milestone 3 – Years 5 and 6

The teaching of this cyclical curriculum approach will 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. By revisiting these areas of learning regularly children will remember more, know more and understand more. 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. We want our children to gain confidence and have practical experiences of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Statement of Impact
The successful approach at Oasis Academy Henderson Avenue results in a fun, engaging, high-quality geographical education, that provides children with the foundations for understanding the world around them and the impact that people have on the world. Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first hand experiences of the world around them. So much of geography lends itself to outdoor learning and so we provide children with opportunities to experience this. Pupil voice is used to further develop the Geography curriculum, through questioning of pupil’s views and attitudes to Geography and to support the children’s enjoyment of geography and to motivate learners. This will enable all children, to flourish and become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be regardless of background, ability or additional needs.