Intent:

At St Lawrence, we aim to inspire in our children a curiosity and sense of awe about the world whilst also developing their understanding of their place in the world. Our Geography Curriculum introduces the children to a rich diversity of places and communities around the world and helps them to consider the connectivity of these places. The children will learn about a wide range of human and physical features and processes. Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with the subject specific vocabulary they need to describe, question and discuss the world. We will help the children to recognise how changes to places and the environment happen and affect us, both as a result of natural processes and through human activity. Throughout their St Lawrence journey, they will be provided with opportunities to revisit, consolidate and build upon prior knowledge and skills. Children are also provided with opportunities to develop their fieldwork skills using the school grounds, Alton and further afield.

We are passionate about educating children on current environmental issues and understanding their human impact both locally and globally. We encourage the children to think about how their actions can have an impact and ‘be the change’.

Implementation:

St Lawrence Geographers, will be given the opportunity to revisit and build upon prior knowledge and skills whilst being able to make new connections to new concepts. Each Geography unit taught is stemmed from a big question which the children will spend their time investigating and exploring. Teachers model the use of subject specific vocabulary and geographical resources such as atlases and digital mapping. We ensure that we use a wide range of sources to prevent providing a one-sided stereotypical view and encouraging children to question bias. Each class has a world map display used to locate any places relevant to their learning across the curriculum. Opportunities for school trips and fieldwork are provided to give first-hand experiences and to develop the children’s fieldwork skills.

Impact:

By the time our children leave St Lawrence, they will have a growing knowledge of the world and their place in it. They will be able to show an understanding about ways in which places are interconnected and how to compare places using a range of geographical sources. They will be able to identify and explain a wide range of human and physical features. They will have built upon knowledge from previous years and be able to apply technical vocabulary to new concepts taught.

The impact of our Geography curriculum is measured in a variety of ways including: questioning during lesson time, written work, rich tasks, listening to child-led discussion, interviewing children across the school about their learning and retrieval opportunities such as low stakes quizzes. Teacher judgements will be used to determine children’s progress towards age-related expectations.

During their time at St Lawrence, children are given the opportunity each year to apply to be Eco Champions and Global Ambassadors. Eco Champions work towards helping our school to become more environmentally friendly and take part in litter picking in the community. Global Ambassadors think more globally and help organise Fair Trade Fortnight. Both groups have had opportunities to take part in mini local eco-conferences or local events providing the chance to work with children from other schools.