Geography
Miss McCullagh is the geography coordinator at Milton Park Primary School.
GEOGRAPHY Planning Toolkit.pptxGeography at Milton Park Primary School
Aims and Vision
We aim for:
A high-quality education in geography to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
Children in our school to gain a good understanding of their place in the world, locally, nationally and globally
Children to be able to articulate what geography is, in terms of skills, knowledge and enquiry as well as the kinds of real-life applications (such as careers)
Children to transfer geography skills across a range of subjects and to use these to independently develop a wider knowledge of a range of geographical concepts and phenomena
How we teach Geography
At Milton Park, we teach geography mainly through projects. Geography does not have a particular order to its content, but rather establishing patterns is key to being a successful geographer.
Skills and place knowledge form the the spiral and topics are the blocks of understanding on which to build. We have an identified progression of skills for each year group that covers
- Location Knowledge
- Place Knowledge
- Human Geography
- Physical Geography
- Fieldwork and Geographical Skills
As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world will help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
What will you see in a Geography lesson?
· High level of engagement, enthusiasm and inquisitiveness from the children
· Children able to explain their ideas, predictions, thinking and/or reasoning
· Children who are able to explain what they are learning or trying to find out
· Skills and knowledge are identified and build on previous learning
· Collaborative working when appropriate
· A range of geographical sources: maps, aerial photos, digital technologies, globes, internet searches, website
· Where possible, the use of first hand experiences to develop skills and knowledge
What does learning look like in Geography?
Where possible, we teach geography through an enquiry approach which allows children to gather evidence, data or find their own way to answer questions. We provide opportunities to build on and make links to prior learning and apply it to new contexts.
Where possible, we devise a ‘hook’ to get the children engaged with a lesson or topic. This could be a question, a photograph, a ‘problem’ to solve, a letter from a real or imagined person.
For example;
- ‘Is there a litter problem at Milton Park Primary School?’ fieldwork document.
- ‘What journeys do people make in our local area?’
We ensure that there are many opportunities for children to be outside learning about their own environment and local area – as we place a large emphasis on outdoor learning
