Geography at Bewdley Primary School - Statement of Intent

 

It is our intent for the Geography element of our school curriculum to inspire pupils with a curiosity and fascination about the world, and the people, around us and distant places. We have a wealth of opportunities to explore local geography, including the river, fields, forests, Bewdley town and our own Forest School.

 

At Bewdley Primary School, we equip pupils with deep knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. Pupils will also have opportunities to gain a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

Throughout their time at the school, pupils revisit the threshold concepts through a wide breadth of topics in order to deepen their knowledge of geographical study.

 

Threshold Concepts

• Investigate places - this concept involves understanding the geographical location of places and their physical and human features
• Investigate patterns - this concept involves understanding the relationships between the physical features of places and the human activity within them and the appreciation of how the world’s natural resources are used and transported
• Communicate geographically - this concept involves understanding geographical representations, vocabulary and techniques

These Threshold Concepts link to the national curriculum for geography.

By the time they leave the school, pupils should have developed the following essential characteristics of geographers:

• An excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• An excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
• An extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Fluency in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills     and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
• The ability to reach clear conclusions and develop a reasoned argument to explain findings.
• Significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations and representations of the subject matter.
• Highly developed and frequently utilised fieldwork and other geographical skills and techniques.
• A passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there.
• The ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.

Here at BPS each year group covers geography in a variety of different ways. This is just a snapshot of what we get up to in our geography lessons.

 

Early Years Foundation Stage

In Early Years Foundation Stage, the children’s understanding of geography is all based around the Early Learning goal of ‘Understanding The World’. They also cover some geographic skills in maths when they look at directional and positional language. The children in Foundation Stage should be able to show these skills and knowledge.

Year 1

In Year 1 the children learn all about Bewdley and the physical and human features that they can see. They then expand this knowledge by learning all about the United Kingdom and its different features including the different countries that make up the United Kingdom.

Year 2

In Year 2 the children learn all about the oceans of our world and where these are in relation to the continents. They also then look at forests within the UK and compare these to forests in other areas of the world. They also start to look at grid references and topographical map work.  

Year 3

In Year 3 the children learn all about the world we live in, building on their knowledge from Key Stage One, and developing this further by looking at different continents and comparing the physical and human features. Their big focus is Europe and comparing different countries in Europe to their own. They also create their own countries with human and physical features and prepare presentations for the United Nations.

Year 4

In Year 4 the children do a focussed, in-depth topic all about the rainforests. They look at where the rainforests are in the world, looking closely at the Equator and the Tropics. They also look at the human and physical features in the Amazon Rainforest and create their own Rainforest houses ready for a big knowledge showcase which is shared with children from across the school.

Year 5

In Year 5 the children look at longitude and latitude across the Earth and build on their skills from Lower Key Stage Two by mapping these in relation to the Equator and the Tropics. They also look at the structure and layout of rivers in this country and around the world and the technical terminology related to these rivers. They also go on an exciting trip to Envirosort to look at the dangers or plastic pollution and how to recycle correctly to protect our environment.

Year 6

In Year 6 the children bring together all their geographical knowledge from across the school to locate and map out Antarctica. They look at Antarctic expeditions and the physical and human features there. They also look at the impact that global warming is having in Antarctica and build on their Year 5 knowledge of pollution to work out ways to help the environment.