Geography at Byers Green
At Byers Green Primary School, our children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place within it. 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. Geography is crucial in enabling our children to make sense of the world around them, think critically about changes, both near and far, and understand how humans interact with their environment. It allows them to build a deeper understanding of the world they live in, the natural environment and human landscapes and the connections between them.
We are committed to providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area of Byers Green and County Durham so that they can develop a real sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special.
The curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their time at Byers Green and also to their further education and beyond. By the end of year 6 we aim for our children to have a genuine interest in the subject and a real sense of curiosity about the world and the people who live here.
“A high quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.” DfE
Our curriculum has been carefully designed to help our children know more and remember more as they gain substantive knowledge across the four key elements of geographical understanding. All of these elements are taught across all phases.
Location | Develop children’s knowledge of the location of significant places, both terrestrial and marine. |
Place | Understand similarities and differences, compare and contrast between two locations |
Human and physical features | Know the processes that provide the human and physical features of the world, including how these are interdependent and change over time. |
Skills and fieldwork | Know how to collect, analyse and communicate geographical data gathered through experiences of fieldwork. Know how to interpret a range of geographical information and present this in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical skills and written formats. |
In geography, disciplinary knowledge is the process of enabling children to use their substantive knowledge of the world around them to make links between and across different areas of the curriculum. Geography knowledge will equip the children with the opportunity to explain how and why places are changing and to predict any future changes that may happen. They will also apply this knowledge to explain what could and should change in the future of the world in which they live; providing them with the opportunity to become effective global citizens.
To ensure that our curriculum is engaging and builds on prior knowledge, we have planned our themes across a two-year cycle. This means that children will have the opportunity to cover a range of themes, without repeating content, while being able to consolidate and develop key skills.
Our Geography curriculum has been carefully planned and structured to reflect the knowledge of younger learners to more abstract learning for our older learners. The children’s learning journey starts with a focus on very familiar and small areas that they can relate to. Every year, the learning covers a wider area. In this way, the children have the opportunity to learn and develop their geographical knowledge, skills and vocabulary from a solid foundation. As they continue through their learning journey, the objectives get progressively more intricate and complex.
Lessons are carefully planned to include research, enquiry and practical elements whilst giving children the knowledge they need to communicate their findings and ask appropriate geographical questions.
To provide the best possible experiences we also ensure that children are given opportunities to apply their geographical skills across the curriculum through numerous extra-curricular activities including access to educational visits and forest school for all year groups.
Click here for link to Geography curriculum overview
Byers Green pupils will –
Be confident at locating places on a range of maps, globes, atlases and digital resources
Be able to compare and contrast many different aspects of geographical similarities and differences.
Have a deep understanding of human activity in the world, both positive and negative.
Carry out fieldwork, building on prior skills and analyse any gathered data.
Be able to describe a location using correct geographical vocabulary
The impact of teaching geography will be seen across the school and will forge important links between home, school, the local area and the wider world.
By encouraging the enjoyment and engagement in geography, children will develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that will engage and inspire them to have a love and appreciation of the world we live in.