At Hazel Leys our geography curriculum helps pupils build powerful knowledge of the world. Conceptual understanding is at the heart of our geography curriculum and children will learn about key geographical concepts including place, space, the environment, and how the world around them is interconnected.

Throughout the curriculum, children will consider how we know about the world, what geographers do, what they look for, and how they may interpret their observations. By answering questions such as ‘what would a geographer say about this place?’, we encourage children to think about the discipline of geography and how knowledge is formed.

Pupils will have many opportunities to make interesting and complex connections between what they study in geography and other subjects such as history and science. The knowledge-rich approach to a primary geography curriculum supports children to understand the world around them, to think deeply about global issues and to develop their own sense of identity; knowing who they are and equipping them with the power to determine their futures.

Intent:

Our Geography curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

At Hazel Leys Academy, through our Geography curriculum, we aim to expand geographical vocabulary, increase our children’s knowledge and curiosity of the wider world and promote high aspirations. We seek to create a life-long love of the subject, through teaching our children about diverse places, people and resources.

Through the study of natural and human environments, as well as physical and human processes, our desire is to provide our children with a sense of awe and wonder about the world they live in and gain an appreciation of the difficult and often described ‘messy’ world we live in.

Our Geography curriculum is knowledge rich. This means the knowledge children will gain has been carefully specified, ordered coherently and builds over time. As children work through our geography curriculum they will know more, understand more about the world around them.

A good geographical understanding relies on firm foundations of knowledge and skills. The skills our curriculum develops, like the knowledge, are specified, ordered coherently and progress over time. As they continue on their journey of Geography, we aim to foster a deep understanding of the subject that develops alongside their geographical skills. Our aim is that our children go on to apply these skills across all subjects, and can draw upon their knowledge in other disciplines.

Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with the subject specific language they need to describe, question and discuss the world, as well as their place within it.

 Implementation:

Based upon the National Curriculum and the individual needs of our children and the Hazel Leys community, we have adopted a knowledge rich curriculum for the delivery of our entire geography curriculum. Approaching primary geography with a knowledge rich focus means that the knowledge children will be taught has been identified, in each year group, in each unit and in each lesson.

As children work through the curriculum they will know more and understand more about their local area, the UK, Europe and the World. This rigorous approach, covering and going beyond the requirements of the National Curriculum, leaves nothing to chance, building geographical knowledge and understanding in a way that builds on children’s prior knowledge, allowing them to make meaningful connections and gain an understanding of how our world is connected.

Conceptual understanding is at the heart of our curriculum. Children will learn about key geographical concepts such as place, space, the environment and interconnection.

Over time, working through an essential process of elaboration, children will add to their conceptual understanding with many examples of geographical knowledge in context.

Children will become more skilled at answering questions such as: what is it like to live in this place? What are the challenges of this environment? How have people changed this landscape over time? Children will gain an understanding of what geographers do, what they look for and what they may say about a place. They will look at the migration of both animals and people, studying the impact migration and colonialism had on places such as Australia and New Zealand.

Impact:

The impact of our geography curriculum is measured in a variety of ways: questioning during lesson time, marking children’s written work, listening to child-led discussion, interviewing pupils across the school about their learning, book trawls and using images/videos of children’s practical learning. Children will have the chance to participate in low stakes quizzes and also have the opportunity to complete longer tasks to gauge the depth of their geographical understanding. By end of the Geography curriculum Hazel Leys Academy our children will:

• Have a growing knowledge of the world and their place in it.
•  Have a wider vocabulary of geographical terms.
•  Aspire to discover more about the world, through reading, travel or the media.
• The ability to reach clear conclusions and explain their findings
• Develop their geographical skills, such as, evaluation, creativity, problem solving and enquiry.
• A genuine interest in the subject and a real sense of curiosity about the world and the people who live there