Intent Statement

Psalm 24:1

‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.’ 

We have chosen Psalm 24:1 because Geography promotes a love of the world and the stewardship of our planet. We believe that learning Geography enriches our understanding of the world and encourages people to take more care of it. This includes not only our natural world but all the people who live on earth. Through learning about how people live around the world we can develop our sense of empathy and compassion, as well as a love of travel and exploration to allow us to see new places and meet new people.

The curriculum has been designed so that pupils follow not only the National Curriculum but a range of geographical ideas and concepts at each stage of their learning. Each topic allows pupils exposure to different aspects of geography such as locational knowledge, physical processes and human interaction to ensure holistic learning about places and themes. Pupils study concepts at a range of scales allowing them to compare and contrast different situations and how people live in different parts of the world can differ, and to draw comparisons with their own cultures and lives.

Through our curriculum we develop core knowledge over time of geographical essentials such as physical processes and sustainable development. These key concepts are embedded into our schemes of work and are spiraled over time to develop pupil understanding. Where KS4 content is linked, our lessons provide the building blocks for deeper understanding in later studies but are broad enough to ensure pupils are not repeating content but instead receiving a balanced curriculum offer.

We are aiming to ensure pupils are global citizens and stewards of the world to enable them to tackle any challenges that face them in the future, with regular links to our school core value of stewardship. We want pupils to have powerful knowledge which will enforce change and enable them to make a difference to other people’s lives. We also want them to have the required geographical knowledge from the curriculum to prepare them for the ever-changing job market and employment opportunities they will face. Through our curriculum we regularly make links in lessons to careers in Geography, as well as skills that geographers have which employers seek.

When planning our curriculum, we have identified links with other curriculum areas and ensured than any cross-curricular links are used when appropriate. This includes the delivery of mathematical skills in the same teaching manner, the common teaching of climate change with the Science department and making links with the History curriculum when teaching industrialisation as a tool for economic development.

Geography is a subject in which pupils develop knowledge of a diverse world, develop cultural awareness and become conscious of the challenges the world faces. Geography can bring controversial topics to the classroom in an empathetic and engaging manner which allows pupils to make their own judgements and establish reasons for their beliefs. We have developed links with the RE department to cover contentious and complex issues such as the Israel and Palestine conflict. Geography is evolving on a daily basis and as new topics come to the forefront, we have to be ready to adapt our curriculum accordingly. It is taught in a manner which allows discussion of current news or information from around the world and its relation to the knowledge pupils are acquiring. This is due to the types of topics we have built into the curriculum and the links made between the different topic areas across both key stages.

We seek opportunities to allow pupils to practice their geographical skills in the field and in real life, as we believe fieldwork is integral to a geography curriculum. In recent years we have had to make use of the school site and virtual fieldwork to do this but hope to improve our fieldwork offer through fieldtrips out of the local area.

Geography allows pupils to develop an understanding of how the interactions of the physical and human world can impact on people, wildlife, and communities around the world. It allows them to understand the diversity of places and ensure they show compassion for those living in areas of conflict or disaster. It also shows how they can be the difference for the future and be the stewards for a better planet.

Reading List