Geography at Ben Rhydding
Intent
Geography is taught by class teachers through Topic lessons. Teachers often use the subject of Geography as a vehicle to drive learning in other curriculum areas e.g. art, science and maths. Throughout their time at Ben Rhydding, children will develop a range of skills that help them understand their place in the world and their responsibility for being a global citizen.
Teachers look for opportunities to link the geography curriculum to the places that children are familiar with. At Ben Rhydding, we are very conscious that we live in a beautiful area with a range of physical and human features where the children can explore to give their learning purpose and meaning.
Implementation
The Big Ideas that we want pupils to develop on their journey through school fall into 4 main concepts: graphicacy and the use of maps; where I am in the world; enquiry and environment. Through these themes children will develop their understanding of physical and human geography leading to an appreciation of the world they live in and a desire to be responsible for the care of the planet.
At Ben Rhydding we recognise the importance of vocabulary. All teaching sequences start with a vocabulary lesson that teaches vocabulary specific to that topic. In addition, we have established a progression of vocabulary from Year 1 to Year 6. These words are linked to the skills and tools that we want our children to acquire.
Impact
Geography helps all children to understand their place in our world. It shapes their values and their respect for people of different nationalities, cultures and faiths. Geography teaches us to live sustainably and makes us unite with others to protect our planet.
Supporting SEND
We support SEND in Topic through a variety of different ways. These include: open ended outcomes with an emphasis on showing their learning through multiple ways not just reading and writing; Peer support through carefully decided ‘Topic Partners’; communication friendly classrooms with task planners visible for all children and explicit teaching of ‘key vocabulary’ for their topic.
What pupils say…
Child A had a great understanding of the main geographical concepts learnt in Year 6 that year. “I used a map to find where Savannah biomes were; longitude and latitude across the world; the states of America, in particular Massachusetts. We studied time zones of the world and we also found famous bridges locations in America.” They also talked with real interest about how in Year 5 they were part of a forest school which taught them how to live in a natural environment and use resources around them.
Child B talked passionately about how whole school events such as Special Events Day taught them about the environment specifically plastic waste, the importance of recycling and protecting endangered animals. They were very interested in looking after our school environment by taking part in a joint class litter pick.