Asquith Primary School- Geography Overview

Growing to succeed - Geography The Asquith Way    

'Geography underpins a lifelong "conversation" about the earth as the home of humankind.'

Geography Association

'We learn about the environment and different places in the world.'

Asquith Pupil

Our geography curriculum at Asquith Primary School  has been designed around a series of questions. We have an exciting, engaging geography curriculum rooted in our unique locality – the historic town of Morley and the beautiful county of West Yorkshire.Our carefully sequenced lessons enable pupils to understand the relationships between places, the human and physical processes that shape them, and the people who live in them. We build strong foundations in our EYFS, support and challenge pupils on their journey through our school, ultimately ensuring that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge that they will need to succeed in the future and be citizens of tomorrow’s world. Our curriculum is underpinned by 5 golden threads: High aspirations for all, Fostering resilience, Embedding key skills, Respecting diversity and Creating global citizens- with the intent that all our children have the opportunity to grow and succeed as a geographer. 

Intent

At Asquith Primary School, we believe that Geography helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about natural and human aspects of the wider world. Children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it.  

• The geography curriculum at Asquith Primary School enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are used to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge, and skills.
• Geography provides pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress through the school, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. 
• Through the exploration of the ever changing world - we investigate sustainability and recognise our children’s place and responsibilities for the world of tomorrow.
• The curriculum is designed to ensure that children can develop their geographic knowledge and skills through practical experiences, using equipment, fieldwork, building arguments, and explaining concepts confidently. This is enhanced by visitors, workshops, and experiences within the local community.
• Developing aspirations through the study of other specialists from a diverse range of backgrounds and places in history, enabling children to explore geography within the environment, as well as developing an understanding of the ever-changing world we live in.
• Children’s resilience is built through opportunities for them to experiment with possible solutions and ways of answering questions.  This in turn embeds the understanding that to FAIL is a First Attempt in Learning as not all of their ideas are successful.

Implementation

Geography at Asquith Primary School  is taught in block units throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in their learning.  The concepts, geographical knowledge and geographical skills have been mapped to ensure that pupils following our sequence of learning have ample opportunity to make progress in geography by knowing and remembering more geography content.Key knowledge and skills in each area of learning are mapped across the key stages, ensuring that knowledge builds progressively and that children develop skills systematically. Units of learning have been chosen to build sequentially, increasing knowledge of location and sense of place.  

The focus on ensuring that the children grow to succeed is implemented by:

• Developing the understanding of the key knowledge within each unit and across each year group. This is delivered through questions about theme topics with the four main areas of geography threaded throughout: Location and Place, Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Geographical Skills.
• Applying and developing key geographical skills through all units of learning, often underpinned using maps, atlases and globes. Experiential learning and fieldwork is also a feature in many of the geographical units.
• Developing understanding of pupils’ own location and how the area is used, and comparing to locations around the British Isles, Europe, and the rest of the wider world both from a physical and human geographical perspective.
• Emphasising the importance placed on environmental issues to educate children on how they can help to look after our planet.
• Children being given the opportunity to research people who have had a significant impact on geographical issues from a range of diverse backgrounds. Exploring both the positive and negative impacts of such events or movements.

Impact

As children progress throughout the school, they will develop a deep knowledge, understanding and appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context as well as the wider world. They develop the knowledge and skills to enable them to explore, navigate and understand the world around them. We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world, its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Places to Visit

Oakwell Hall (free of charge) https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/museums-and-galleries/oakwell-hall.aspx

Rodley Nature Reserve http://www.rodleynaturereserve.org/

Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve http://cromwellbottom.blogspot.com/

Malham https://www.malhamdale.com/

East Coast https://www.visitwhitby.com/