Geography Curriculum Statement

Statement of intent

‘I am at the heart of a caring community where I learn to respect and value my environment and the people who share it with me’… this is part of the ethos statement that welcomes people to Willow Brook school. The school’s place in the community is the basis upon which we build a groundwork to enable our children to flourish into inquisitive geographers. By equipping our children with skills and knowledge that they need, we aim to instil a sense of interest and wonder in our locality, which grows into a curiosity for the wider world around them. Our creative curriculum encourages a sense of awe and wonder and in doing so, should prepare our children to grow into aware and responsible members of the world community.

Statement of implementation

In order to achieve our aims, our lessons equip the children with rich geographical knowledge and vocabulary. With these tools at their disposal, the children learn the skills that they need to be able to collect, interpret and communicate geographical data. Geographical learning becomes a whole school focus during the spring term where teachers ensure children interacts with maps, atlases and physical models of the world. Maths lessons use geographical data and English lessons include international stories of adventure where the characters engage with fascinating human and physical geography. Indeed, our geography provision is closely linked to science as children learn about climate and weather, or biomes and habitats. This cross curricular approach embeds learning and makes it memorable.

As children progress through the school, past learning is regularly referred to and children are encouraged to draw links between different stages of their learning. Our curriculum is planned so that children build on what they have learned as topics increase in complexity. Whilst our youngest children start with the countries, cities and mountains of the United Kingdom, our oldest children know the differences between South American countries, time zones and six figure grid references. As their understanding of human and physical geography deepens, they are taught to recognise how the two are often interdependent and encouraged to question and examine this.

We enrich our children’s experience with real life experiences. In this way, our geography curriculum transcends the classroom, incorporating fieldwork and independent investigation.  In doing so, children are given the opportunity to put what they have learned to the test.

And we can find impact

Our creative curriculum planning shows how geography is woven across all half terms and complements our learning throughout the year. This can be seen in how regularly children revisit and reuse geographical knowledge and skills. Our children leave Willow Brook with a sense of the complexities of our human and physical environment. They have the skills and knowledge to be able to communicate what is important for our planet and why it is important. In doing so, they are prepared to help leave the world in a better place.