Geography at West Wycombe School

At West Wycombe School, the Geography curriculum is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the world around them, focusing on both natural and human environments. The curriculum is structured to build on students' knowledge and skills progressively from Reception through Year 6.

Intent

Our Geography curriculum intends to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers, encouraging them to think like geographers. The curriculum aims to develop questioning, observation, data measurement, analysis, and presentation skills. It focuses on understanding how geography shapes lives at multiple scales and over time, fostering resourcefulness and active citizenship. The scheme emphasises developing geographical skills and knowledge, critical thinking, fieldwork skills, and a deep understanding of local and global geography. It aligns with the National Curriculum and supports Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) goals.

Implementation

Implementing the Geography curriculum involves delivering a progressive and practical learning experience across the school. The curriculum is structured around four strands:

• Locational knowledge
• Place knowledge
• Human and physical geography
• Geographical skills and fieldwork.

It includes cross-curricular links, inquiry-based learning, and fieldwork opportunities. Our geography curriculum includes clear progression of skills and knowledge, with units designed to revisit and build on previous learning. Teaching strategies include independent, paired, and group work. The curriculum is spiral, ensuring that essential knowledge and skills are reinforced with increasing complexity.

Each unit contains elements of geographical skills and fieldwork to ensure that fieldwork skills are practised as often as possible. Our units follow an enquiry cycle that maps out the fieldwork process of question, observe, measure, record, and present, to reflect the elements in the National curriculum. This ensures children learn how to decide on an area of enquiry, plan to measure data using a range of methods, capture the data and present it to a range of appropriate stakeholders in a variety of formats.

Impact

The Geography curriculum's impact is measured through formative and summative assessments. The enquiry-based approach allows teachers to assess pupils against National Curriculum expectations. The expected outcomes include the ability to compare and contrast human and physical features, understand the interaction of physical elements, appreciate the relationship between humans and their environment, and develop geographical skills such as map reading and conducting enquiries. The curriculum aims to equip pupils with the skills and knowledge to study geography confidently at Key Stage 3, fostering respect and appreciation for the world and shaping them into curious and inspired geographers.

Overall, the Geography curriculum at West Wycombe School aims to foster curiosity, respect for the natural world, and a deep understanding of environmental science, preparing students to be informed and responsible global citizens.

Links Between Topics:

Seasonal and Environmental Changes: From Reception through Year 6, students consistently explore how natural and human environments change over time and the impact of these changes.
 

Human-Environment Interaction: Throughout the years, there is a strong emphasis on how humans interact with and impact their environment, from local weather patterns to global issues like pollution and sustainability.
 

Fieldwork and Observation: Practical skills such as observation, drawing, and fieldwork are emphasised, allowing students to apply their knowledge in real-world contexts.