Geography
Intent
At RPA it is our intention that our coverage of the humanities subjects will provide children with a broad range of knowledge across History, Geography and RE. Our curriculum has been designed to link, where possible, our foundation subjects into termly themes, which allow our learners to link to our teaching of English and Reading and fully immerse their children into key ideas. We hope that our curriculum for the humanities subjects has been designed in such a way that the children are able to learn both knowledge and skills which will help them to progress as learners. We intend for the children to learn both about religions and history, but also to support them to form their own ideas and to learn from it, through discussion and investigation.
Implementation
- The foundation subjects typically follow the suggested order of the National Curriculum, and our offer has been planned in house to offer a broad range of subject areas within Geography. Alongside these progression grids, teachers follow a curriculum map for geography.
- In RE, we follow the Gloucestershire RE syllabus which give the children a broad range of knowledge and thinking skills related to a range of religions and beliefs.
- Planning for each subject is linked to a termly theme, and foundation subjects are often linked to this, however our foundation subjects are taught discretely.
- Teachers planning is responsive to the needs of the learners in their class, and based upon progression in understanding and skills grids which have been produced for each subject area. This ensures our learners get a broad knowledge of each topic within the foundation subjects, but also understand how to use sources, understand chronology, and discuss the causes of events.
- Due to the demographic and location of the school, much of our geography planning encourages children to think about the wider world and learn about cities and countries to give them a broader understanding of different cultures.
- Attainment is monitored through use of our progression grids within each area.
- Teaching of the foundation subjects is differentiated according to the needs of our learners to enable every child to access and engage with the content offered.
Impact
The result of our teaching is that our children will leave Redmarley with a strong understanding of both the skills and knowledge set out in the National Curriculum for the foundation subjects. In addition, that they can form opinions based on facts learned, and apply broader skills to other areas of their learning, such as investigation and discussion of sources.
Our foundation subjects offer our learners an opportunity to learn about the wider world, and the impact of key events on our current society. They are able to discuss historical events with respect and compassion and make links between their learning.
It is our clear aim that the children will gain a broad knowledge, but also learn the skills to think independently and assess information given so that they are able to form their own opinions.
Below you can see our Geography curriculum over a two year cycle. Please click on the relevant learning question for each unit to see the Knowledge and Skills organiser for this topic.
Class 2 – Year A
Term 1 |
Term 2 |
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Term 5 |
Term 6 |
Life in the city and country
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Oceans |
Serving our world |
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Where are the world’s oceans and continents?
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How can we protect our planet?
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Local Area Study: Looking at maps and photographs of our local area to understand where we live, and compare it to an area in London.
Using maps and computers to compare London now to in 1066 Creating own maps of the school and compare to a London school
Comparing physical and human geography in two contrasting locations in the UK. |
Using maps, atlases, stories and computers to investigate oceans and continents. Name and locate the worlds seven continents and oceans.
Use simple compass directions and locational and directional knowledge. |
Weather: Identifying seasonal and daily weather patterns in the UK and the location of hot and cold areas in the world in relation to the Equator and South Poles.
Changes to weather as a result of climate change. |
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Class 2 – Year B
Term 1 |
Term 2 |
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Term 5 |
Term 6 |
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Contrasting countries and cultures |
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What is different and similar about the geography of Kenya and the UK?
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understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of a small area of the United Kingdom, and of a small area in a contrasting non-European country
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Class 3 – Year A
Term 1 |
Term 2 |
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Term 5 |
Term 6 |
Romans and Celts
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Coasts |
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Anglo-Saxons |
Water |
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What impact did the Romans empire have on Britain? |
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What impact did the settlement of Anglo-Saxons have on Britain? |
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Using maps and compasses directions to track the journey of the Romans. Using maps to locate the Roman Empire in AD42 – how is the world different now and what are those countries known as now? |
Investigating what coasts are, how they are formed, how they are protected and why they are constantly changing. The processes of erosion and deposition and how they affect the coast. |
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Using maps and compasses to investigate the areas settled in by the Anglo-Saxons. |
Describe and explain key aspects of the water cycle. |
Class 3 – Year B
Term 1 |
Term 2 |
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Term 5 |
Term 6 |
Ancient Egypt
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Rainforests |
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What were the greatest achievements of the Ancient Egyptians?
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Who calls the Amazon home and are their lives at risk of change? |
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Using maps to locate Egypt and identify environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries and major cities.
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Understand climate zones, compare geographical regions (an area of South America – Brazil/The Amazon Rainforest)
Learning about different tribes who live in the rainforest. |
Class 4 – Year A
Term 1 |
Term 2 |
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Term 5 |
Term 6 |
WW2 – life on the home front, including local history
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Ancient Greeks |
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The Artic and Antarctic |
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How did Britain change as a result of World War 2?
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What was the legacy of the Ancient Greeks? |
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Using maps to explore areas of evacuation, and how the Battle of Britain and D-day landings were planned. |
Locating Greece on a map, comparing maps from Ancient Greece to maps from today. What features still exist? |
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Biomes and climate
Locational Knowledge: Identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night) § describe and understand key aspects of: § physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts. |
Class 4 – Year B
Term 1 |
Term 2 |
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Term 5 |
Term 6 |
The history of Immigrants and Refugees |
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Volcanoes and Earthquakes |
Mexico |
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Why causes people to be displaced? |
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What effect do human and physical geography have on the planet? |
What is life and culture like in Mexico, and how does it compare to our own lives?
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Locating places from which people have been displaced. Using maps and locational description to locate countries. |
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I can describe an understand how volcanoes and earthquakes occur and their impact on local geography of a location. |
A study on Mexico – comparisons with other countries studied and a country in South America. |