A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip 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, their growing knowledge about the world should help 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, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Intent

At Howden Junior School we believe a high-quality Geography education will help pupils develop a greater knowledge and understanding of the world.  Children will leave Howden Juniors with knowledge of:

• places and people
• resources in the environment
• physical and human processes
• formation and use of landscapes

in addition to developing a range of geographical skills in relation to mapping and fieldwork.

What does Geography look like at HJS? (Implementation)

A themed approach:

Topics have been chosen to allow a thematic approach to teaching and to ensure cross-curricular links are age related. A geography lesson is taught in half-termly blocks of 3 per year. All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of geographical skills including using maps, globes and atlases; using compass points and grid references and using fieldwork to observe, measure and record in addition to gaining the knowledge required by the National Curriculum.

Links between units and progression of skills:

At Howden Junior School geographical enquiry skills are embedded in each topic the children study and these skills are revisited and developed throughout their time at school. The key knowledge, vocabulary and skills of each topic has been identified to ensure progression throughout the school. 

Educational Visits:

Where applicable, Educational Visits and Visitors that link to Geography will be made to develop the children’s topical learning.  Each year group will have a least one visit or visitor of a geographical nature.

The wider curriculum

• links with local area
• Wondrous World Week
• Charity links with a school in Uganda

Impact

Our Geography Curriculum is of high quality to ensure that children are engaged with the subject and enjoy it. Outcomes in themed books, and discussions with the children, will evidence a broad and balanced geography curriculum; demonstrating the children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge, vocabulary and skills. Teachers will assess each pupil’s progress against their year group’s objectives which will be reported to parents at the end of the academic year. Children are expected to make at least expected progress from their starting points.