Our aim is to build geographers who are culturally aware and encouraged to express their differences in race, religion and traditions. Children should have a knowledge of the wider world and be able to use practical skills in the field.

Implementation

Teachers monitor progress continually and adjust their teaching accordingly. Much of the learning covered in these subjects is kept hands-on, kinaesthetic and cross-curricular, providing practical learning so that skills can become embedded and so ensure concrete understanding. Assessment through questioning and verbal discussion is an area that the school is working hard to promote and enhance. For example, the Year 5 teacher allowed his children to recreate the layers of the rainforest and place a researched into its specific habitat to better understand the make-up of the ecosystem. The Reception teaching, when educating her class about the local area, invited her grandad and friend into school to sing traditional songs to give them an understanding in the area that they live in.

To augment this on-going diagnostic assessment, both history and geography have discrete skills outlined in the new curriculum and teachers assess children’s skills and knowledge at termly intervals against the steps in our tracking system. This will also be accompanied by topic specific skills ‘Quizlets in order to break down the ongoing assessment process and place geography assessments to ensure place geography is being embedded. These documents are completed at the beginning of a unit to gauge a child’s base knowledge of a particular topic. These initial ‘Quizlets’ are also used to inform planning and allow staff to plan for challenge for high ability children. At the end of a topic, children will then take the same ‘Quizlet’ which will show the embedding of knowledge and progress that they have made throughout a unit. This allows class teachers to make an informed judgement when assessing children on Insight, in accordance with the standard shown in the children’s books and content of ‘Quizlets’.

These assessments are then stored on Insight on a termly basis, with the senior leadership tram and shared with the subject leaders. In this way, I have a clear picture of children’s progress and achievement in humanities right across the school. In Foundation stage, learning is initiated from the child’s own knowledge and assessment of children’s knowledge is measured through the steps made in the EYFS profile and is evidenced in the children’s learning journals.

Impact:

Observations of pieces of children’s work relating to challenge questions and questioning regarding geography have shown me that they are extremely engaged and enthused by their learning in this subject. Teachers work hard to choose challenge questions and activities that will capture the children’s imaginations.  Planning is of a high standard overall, and shows clearly how staff structure their lessons in order to meet curriculum objectives and outcomes, with good use of a range of resources and techniques. The nature of the challenge questions allows teachers to vary teaching techniques and embrace different subjects whilst maintaining a clear plan for progression through the discrete objectives laid out in the new curriculum.  With regards to geography, Year 1 take an annual trip to Blackpool to see animals that live in both hot and cold climates. This allows them to better understand the differing climate around and away from the Equator. Furthermore, to experience different cultures covered in the curriculum, the children learn of different countries through primary foreign languages, artwork in a particular style and food technology where the children have cooked dishes from different countries. This has most recently been done through a French culture day. In class, displays are often presented as an ongoing learning resource – where findings and questions can be added as the subject progresses. Furthermore, displays show relevant vocabulary to support the children's learning and encourage them to use subject specific language. The Year 5 working wall acts as a resource to recap what has been learnt in the topic as well as a celebration of the children’s work. Similarly, other classes display the achievements of their children within a topic in their classrooms.

Work sampling continues to take place over the course of the year and this enables me to work with teachers to monitor the standard of the children’s work overall, as well as review how well the cross curricular nature of the teaching curriculum has embedded across the school. A recent development within book scrutinies has been to speak to children with their books about their learning. This allows children to gain confidence in speaking about their learning and allows staff a gauge of how well children have retained information outside of what books show.

Foundation stage achievement and progress is monitored through relevant age range steps laid out in the EYFS profile. These small learning steps lead to the Early Learning Goals.

What else have children said?

“Geography is different to history because you learn about the world and different places on Earth!” – Year 1.

“Geography is important because you learn real life skills like how to read a map!” – Year 4.

“I enjoy learning about Brazil because you can then makes links to the rainforest that we learnt about later. You can also make sense of the things needed in a capital or major city!” – Year 5 child.

“I like learning about places close to home and then moving further away!” – Year 3.

Current standards and progress

As both geography and history both have discrete skills and specific pieces of knowledge that have to be taught over the year, teachers compare children’s progress to progression grids of skills and then make an overall judgement on Insight. Decisions are made as to whether children are working towards, at a lower expected, upper expected of greater depth level for the year group. These decisions are informed using the key skills documents, Quizlets, place knowledge assessments that link to key skills taken from both the geography and history curriculums.

As the year has progressed, work samples and the general results of these assessments have enabled me, as subject leader, a clear picture as to whether various children or cohorts are working above, below or expected levels in history and geography.

Standards for geography are included in the subject leader file.

Where to now? Recent developments, highlights and priorities for future developments (2023-2024)

A recent and pleasing development has been the school attaining the Silver Primary Geography Quality Mark via The Geography Association. Mr Taylor submitted an 80 slide presentation detailing the teaching and learning around geography hitting a range of specific indicators.

- Mr Taylor will use the feedback given to aim to achieve at the Gold level in the future and improve our teaching and learning in geography.

- Our areas to develop focus around fieldwork and using the local environment to give the children a more immersive experience in geography which forms a part of our action plan going forward.

Linking to geography and the local area, Mr Taylor and Mrs Merry have also continued the Eco Committee where the children are at the forefront of caring for the local environment.

- A Gardening Club has been started during lunch times, litter picks of the local area have taken place and small and meaningful changes have been made around school to benefit the local environment.

- An Eco Day took place where certain Eco-related priorities were the focus for the day including saving water, caring for wildlife.

- We have recently been awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award with Distinction and will look to build on this next year.

Priorities for future development (2024-25):

• Continue to ensure that both history and geography are well resourced.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​- DigiMaps, relevant fiction and non-fiction books and necessary physical resources are purchased to aid planning and teaching of geography. Books purchased should be on display during teaching of geography topic to make links to reading and promote subject.

• Promote as immersive culture of interest in history and geography around school through class libraries.

​​​​​​​​​​​​- Purchase books relevant to geography unit/display Little People, Big Dreams books whilst teaching to encourage reading around geography.

- Ensure communal/classroom displays are maintained with subject specific vocabulary, examples of children's work and resources to support learning.

• Provide further opportunities for children to practice fieldwork skills and make use of local environment.

​​​​​​​- Work with class teachers to ensure that investigative fieldwork is built into geography units where possible. This could come through data gathering, learning outside of the classroom and using practical map skills in real life  

• Ensure that geography and history specific vocabulary is displayed, taught and that the children are confident using it.

​​​​​​​- Historical vocabulary should be displayed at the front of the classroom or on display wall in every lesson.

- Individual vocabulary tabs should be available to children to help embed subject specific vocabulary.

• Introduce 'What if?' and overarching questions to 'Quizlets' to ensure 'low floor, high ceiling' questioning gives children chance to expand their thinking and apply their knowledge.

- 'What if?' questions will promote deeper thinking around history unit and show understanding of learning as a geographer.

• Introduce and start to embed themes to geography planning (similar to those in history).

​​​​​​​- Last year, 2023-24, saw the introduction of historical themes to aid planning, teaching and learning by ensuring the history curriculum was delivered around historical objectives, rather than unnecessary cross-curricular links. We intend to replicate this success in geography in the coming for similar impact.