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Horizon Academy Trust is an exempt charity regulated by the Secretary of State for Education.

company number 08411590

registered office is C/O Biggin Hill Primary School, Biggin Avenue, Bransholme, Hull, United Kingdom HU7 4RL.

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Biggin Hill Primary

Geography

Our geography curriculum is enquiry based, fully inclusive and meets the needs of all learners, starting from building strong foundations in our EYFS, supporting and challenging them on their journey to being secondary ready, and ultimately ensuring that they are equipped with the cultural capital, skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the future.

Meet our Geography Coordinator

 

Geography Intent

At Horizon Academy Trust we believe that Geography helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the 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 Horizon enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas, and which can and 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. 

All of our schools are fortunate to have a unique geographical location (River Humber, Holderness Coast, Green Port) and much of our curriculum is designed to help children gain a deep understanding of the city in which they live through geographical inquiry.

The curriculum is designed to ensure that teaching equips 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.  

Geographical knowledge and skills are progressive and are sequenced to provide the framework and approaches that provide explanation of how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time. 

We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives, equipping them well for further education and beyond. 

Early Learning Goals

Children at an expected level of development will:

  • Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps
  • Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and (when appropriate) maps
  • Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class
  • Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons

Geography National Curriculum Aims

In line with the Geography Programmes of Study KS1 and KS2 the school aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • Develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
  • Understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
  • Are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
    – Collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
    – Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
    – Communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

Working geographically requires:

  • Questioning
  • Finding patterns and reasoning with their findings
  • Understanding and using age appropriate geographical terminology in context.

For more information regarding the National Curriculum for Geography, please click here.

Geography Implementation

Geography at Horizon is taught in termly units throughout the year, so that children can achieve depth in their learning. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each area of learning and theses are mapped across the school, ensuring that knowledge builds progressively and that children develop skills systematically. Existing knowledge is checked and reviewed at the beginning of each unit. This ensures that teaching is informed by the children’s starting points and that it takes account of pupil voice, incorporating children’s interests.  

Tasks are selected and designed to provide appropriate challenge to all learners, in line with our school’s commitment to inclusion. At the end of each topic, key knowledge is reviewed by the children and rigorously checked by the teacher and consolidated as necessary.

Cross curricular outcomes in geography are specifically planned for and these are indicated on the knowledge organiser for each unit of work. Firm foundations of the children's own immediate environment continue to develop their understanding of the local area, which is fully utilised so that children gain a detailed knowledge of their place within the world, with extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom embedded in our practice. A significant emphasis is also placed on environmental issues to educate children on how they can help to look after our planet.  

Rationale for sequencing of knowledge and skills

The geography curriculum at Horizon is sequenced so that children develop knowledge and skills across four main concepts: Location and Place, Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Geographical Skills. Units of learning have been chosen to build sequentially increasing  knowledge of location and sense of place. For example, learning in KS1 begins with securing a strong understanding of their local area, and then beyond this study it’s place within the UK and then the wider world. 

In KS2 learning builds prior knowledge through the study of more complex geographical concepts such as ‘volcanoes and earthquakes’ and ‘erosion.’ Learning within KS2 also increases children’s knowledge of their geographical locality with units covering the ‘River Humber,’ ‘farming’ and ‘renewable energy.’  The importance of our location is paramount right from the Early Years and continues to underpin the sequencing across Key Stage 1 and 2. Children’s understanding of their own location is used to compare and contrast locations around the British Isles, Europe, and the rest of the World both from a physical and human geographical perspective 

Geographical skills are applied and developed through all units of learning, often underpinned by the use of maps, atlases and globes. Fieldwork is also a feature in many of the geographical units taught ensuring children leave Horizon schools with the knowledge and skills required to succeed in the next stages of their education.

Geography Long Term Plan

Geography Curriculum Journey 

Geography Progression of Knowledge and Skills 

Geography Vocabulary Progression