Our Geography curriculum is delivered through a thematic based approach underpinned by the HCAT accelerated learning approach to teaching and learning.
The key concepts, principles and themes have been developed from the National Curriculum into a range of progressive knowledge and skills through which the children are helped to grow and develop to succeed in 21st century Britain. This curriculum design builds knowledge so that pupils can draw on it in future learning and are increasingly able to apply generalisations to understand the world around them, whilst facilitating a creative way of teaching and learning. This enables teachers to move away from discrete lessons into a more meaningful, engaging, topic based approach.
Our Geography curriculum identifies the substantive knowledge that is to be learned, which thoughtfully considers the 4 interrelated forms: locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical process and geographical skills. In addition to this, our children will learn the disciplinary knowledge required to consider how geographical knowledge originates and is revised. It is through disciplinary knowledge that pupils learn the practices of geographers.
The Geography curriculum we offer is designed to meet the needs of all our pupils. It is rich, varied, imaginative and ambitious and meets the needs of individual learners by can easily be adapted for pupils with additional needs.
At WGPS, within a thematic approach, lessons of geography within the topic will be taught discretely to ensure depth and rigour in geographical concepts and context. Pupils are taught the specific content they need to be successful geographers and these skills are integrated into the curriculum so that pupils understand their application. Throughout our curriculum planning, repeated and revisited practice of geographical skills ensures improvements in pupils’ fluency and accuracy. At WGPS, the Geography curriculum is rich and varied and provides our pupils with the skills required for life in the 21st Century.
The Accelerated Learning Cycle, based on the work of Alastair Smith, is applied in all lessons. It stems from the idea of a supportive and challenging learning environment. The cycle has active engagement through multi- sensory learning, encourages the demonstrating understanding of learning in a variety of ways and the consolidation of knowing.
A gather, skills, apply approach to planning and delivery of lessons is taken across school to ensure children develop a deep understanding of specific skills and are able to apply these in a range of situations.
Formative assessment is ongoing throughout each lesson. It judges progress and enables teachers to make flexible adaptions to their planned teaching.
Through this regular ongoing assessment, tasks are matched to the ability of each child through differentiated activities, adult support, providing a level of challenge that is stimulating for pupils and questioning skills.
INCERTS is used as a summative assessment to assess foundation subjects. Alongside the analysis of data from INCERTS, the curriculum document for geography is regularly highlighted to identify any gaps or misconceptions to be addressed. This allows children to acquire complex skills that depends on the fundamentals of their prior knowledge in a well designed curriculum sequence.
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Created with images by TheAndrasBarta - "europe travel map" • danfador - "mountains sun clouds"