At Ryhope Junior School, we strive to develop children’s passion for Geography. We believe that Geography helps to generate key questions and to provide answers about the natural and human features of the world. Pupils are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, its people and cultures, as well as their important place in it.

Intent

What are we trying to achieve through our curriculum…

At Ryhope Junior School, we aim to deliver a broad and balanced geography curriculum which builds on prior learning at each stage. We believe that our curriculum will inspire a curiosity in our pupils to find out more about their local area, as well as the wider world around them. Pupils will learn about a wide range of places, studying both the physical and human characteristics of these and exploring similarities and differences between where they live and places around the world.

Pupils will develop key skills such as map reading, collecting and analysing data and using a range of sources such as photographs and computer software. We want children to enjoy learning about geography by building and developing knowledge and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits taking advantage of the local surroundings as well as further afield.

Implementation

How our curriculum is delivered…

Geography is taught as a discreet subject at Ryhope Junior School. We follow the National Curriculum and have carefully mapped out the progression of skills and knowledge the pupils will learn throughout Key Stage 2. Throughout Key Stage 2, pupils will have the opportunity to use a variety of data, such as statistics, graphs, pictures, and photographs to develop their understanding further. Pupils take part in discussions, and they present findings and data to their peers.

Skills are regularly shared with the children, so they become increasingly aware of what it means to be a geographer. At the beginning of each topic, as well as regularly throughout various other lessons, children recap on prior learning, particularly place and locational awareness. This helps pupils become more confident as geographers and allows them to make links between prior and current learning.

At Ryhope Junior School, pupils start by learning more about their local area and the United Kingdom before moving onto the wider world. We regularly revisit our local area and country and make links between where we live and other places around the world, studying trade, industry, culture and tourism alongside developing our understanding of key physical geographical features.

Impact

The difference our curriculum is making…

The impact of our geography curriculum is evidenced in high quality books, discussions with the children and through using assessment questions/tasks. Lesson observations and discussions with pupils show that children are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in geography using relevant vocabulary. Pupil voice also demonstrates that pupils are enthusiastic about geography and can recall their learning over time.  Work is of high quality and demonstrates pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary that is progressive across the school. 

Examples of pupils’ work can be seen by following the links below: