Geography Curriculum

Our Geography curriculum identifies the substantive knowledge that is to be learned, which considers the 7 key concepts:

* Human

* Physical

* Places and Locations

* Environments and Topography

* People and Settlements

* Weather, Climate and Seasons

* Map Work and Fieldwork

Our Geography curriculum is taught discretely through specific concepts and themes, which is underpinned by the accelerated learning approach to teaching and learning. To be successful geographers, our pupils are taught specific content as set out on our curriculum front covers. The key concepts, principles and themes have been developed from the National Curriculum into a range of progressive knowledge and skills through which the children are supported to grow and develop to succeed in 21st century Britain.

The Geography curriculum we offer is designed to meet the needs of all our pupils. It is rich, varied, imaginative and ambitious and meets the needs of individual learners but can easily be adapted for pupils with additional needs.

Planned, systematic encounters with substantive concepts in specific and varied contexts support pupils’ progress. Many of these concepts feature regularly throughout the study of geography in a range of contexts. As a result, they are particularly important to pupils’ understanding of new material.

At Summer Lane, we have collated various substantive concepts into categories to consider when planning geographical units of work. Teachers might cover a range of key concepts during a specific focus and some of these will be revisited in children’s later studies to ensure progression in geography.

A Year 3 example of our coherently planned geography units of work

The intent of our Geography curriculum is to inspire pupils' curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, fostering a deep understanding of diverse places, people, resources and environments. Our curriculum is designed around three key foci: Understanding the UK, Contrasting Locations to the UK around the world and Mapwork & Atlas Mastery.

Through the study of the UK, pupils will develop knowledge about their own locality and the broader national context, including both human and physical geography. By exploring contrasting locations worldwide, students will gain a global perspective, appreciating the similarities and differences between various regions and cultures. The focus on map-work and atlas mastery will equip pupils with essential geographical skills, enabling them to use aerial photographs, plan perspectives and create maps with symbols. This comprehensive approach aligns with the national curriculum guidelines, preparing pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life while promoting their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding within the context of our interconnected world.

At Summer Lane, lessons of Geography will be taught discretely to ensure depth and rigour in historical concepts and context. The curriculum is rich and varied and provides our pupils with the knowledge and skills required for life in the 21st Century.

The Accelerated Learning Cycle, based on the work of Alastair Smith, is applied in all lessons. It stems from the idea of a supportive and challenging learning environment. The cycle has active engagement through multi- sensory learning, encourages the demonstrating understanding of learning in a variety of ways and the consolidation of knowing.

A gather, skills, apply approach to planning and delivery of lessons is taken across school to ensure children develop a deep understanding of specific skills and are able to apply these in a range of situations.

Our curriculum is designed with a core focus on retrieval practice, recognising its pivotal role in helping students know more and remember more. This intent is actualised through a dual approach: integrated retrieval within individual lessons and a structured, subject retrieval practice rota. In-session retrieval activities are carefully crafted to reinforce key concepts and knowledge, promoting immediate recall and application. Complementing this, our weekly retrieval practice rota systematically revisits content across various subjects, ensuring spaced repetition and interleaving of crucial information. This comprehensive strategy aims to strengthen neural connections, facilitate the transfer of knowledge to long-term memory and build increasingly complex mental models. By embedding retrieval practice as a fundamental aspect of our curriculum, we strive to enhance our pupils' ability to retain, recall and apply their learning effectively, thereby fostering deeper understanding and more robust academic progress.

Our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those children with SEND. Curriculum designers and teachers have high expectations of what SEND pupils can achieve and the curriculum is not diluted or unnecessarily reduced for SEND pupils. Every pupil is different and so what works for each pupil varies. Pupil’s individual needs are considered and adaptations are planned to ensure the success of pupils in all subjects.

The way that our curriculum is designed ensures that chunks of learning are sequenced in a coherent way to enable all pupils, including those with SEND, to build on prior knowledge. Too much information at once can be a barrier to learning which is one of the reason why we have chosen half termly curriculum drivers.

Where pupils are identified with having complex needs, it may be appropriate to provide a personalised curriculum which will be based on individual needs and will retain ambition for the pupil.

Where working memory is an issue for pupils, including those with SEND, we look to reduce extraneous load as much as possible as well as identifying key information when teaching. This helps pupils to pay attention to the content which they are expected to learn. Adaptations to support individual pupils will be recorded on personal school support plans.

Pupils specific needs determine the types of adaptations which are required. These adaptations are in how the subject is taught rather than the content pupils are expected to learn. Where appropriate, learning will be chunked into smaller steps and pre learning and consolidation time in planned in to support need. Time is also planned to ensure pupils with SEND are pre-taught vocabulary to support their understanding. Adaptations may include supporting pupils to pay attention to key aspects as well as reducing excessive or unhelpful demands on working memory.

Formative assessment is ongoing throughout each lesson. It judges progress and enables teachers to make flexible adaptions to their planned teaching. Through this regular ongoing assessment, tasks are matched to the ability of each child through adapted activities and including adult support, providing a level of challenge that is stimulating for pupils and questioning skills.

The curriculum document for geography is regularly reviewed to identify any gaps or misconceptions to be addressed. This allows children to acquire complex skills that depends on the fundamentals of their prior knowledge in a well designed curriculum sequence.