Why do we teach Geography at Freeland Primary School?

At Freeland, we aim for a high quality geography curriculum which should inspire curiosity and fascination. Geography by its nature is an investigative subject and we seek to foster a lifelong interest in the world and its people. We want children to enjoy and love learning about geography by gaining the knowledge and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits. 

How do we teach Geography at Freeland Primary School?

Teaching and Learning

Cross curricular outcomes in geography are specifically planned for termly, with strong links between geography and literacy lessons identified, planned for and utilised. The local area is fully utilised to achieve the desired outcomes, with extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in practice.

Planning

We use the National Curriculum alongside a geography progression map which ensures children are exposed to a breadth of skills within geography (locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography and skills and field work). Knowledge, Concept, Vocabulary organisers are used by teachers and children to ensure the necessary knowledge and skills are developed in each class to progress to the next step.

Our place in the world

The school has recently started an Eco-Council which will monitor and improve the school’s impact on the wider world. As part of the EPA Youth Summit held in November 2021, we have a Freeland Manifesto which sets out our intentions to become a more sustainable, eco-friendly school and links to our science curriculum.

What is the impact of our teaching?

By engaging in our geography curriculum we aspire to challenge our pupils with ‘real world’ issues that are not only local (such as the increase and impact of house building in our area), to global issues (such as Fairtrade and climate change). Through active engagement our pupils are enabled to learn not only about the world but also how it works, how it fits together and how to make a difference and become positive contributors to it.

Assessment in Geography is both formative and summative. Key Concept questions are assessed at the end of units to allow teachers to identify areas which may require further teaching. Every lesson starts with a review of previous learning to support pupils in remembering more and regular retrieval activities allow knowledge to be transferred to long term memory.