Intent

At Tidemill Academy, we aim to foster a lifelong curiosity and interest about the world and its people, so our learners are inspired and motivated to be active, ever-learning and respectful citizens within our society. We intend for children to explore diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. We also aim for geography at Tidemill to equip pupils with the current knowledge and understanding of physical, human and environmental processes, exploring the interaction between these and how they change over time. Subject specific knowledge and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that help to understand how the Earth’s features are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Implementation

At Tidemill Academy, geography lessons facilitate rich learning experiences that are linked to our skills and attitudes.  Our lessons provide children with regular opportunities to develop and reflect on their geographical knowledge, skills and understanding, as well as challenge all children to develop their critical thinking skills. Each unit begins with a ‘Knowledge Harvest’ and an immersive ‘Entry Point’ to enthuse learners, and the unit is completed by updating this ‘Knowledge Harvest,’ with an ‘Exit Point’ which empowers pupils to communicate their knowledge in a variety of ways. Throughout each unit, children are engaged in a wealth of learning activities to strengthen their geographical knowledge and understanding. These include mapping activities where they are able to use a range of resources to collect and analyse geographical information, as well as enquiry and research tasks where children are encouraged to make comparisons of local and global locations. Regular cross-curricular links are made and opportunities are provided to develop geographical vocabulary, which empowers pupils to communicate their knowledge in a variety of ways. To help embed this geographical vocabulary further, children regularly apply their understanding during cross-curricular writing opportunities. In addition, they interpret a range of sources of geographical information and are given opportunities to learn how physical and human processes cause change over time. To further enrich the geography curriculum, a range of trips and experiences are provided to strengthen geographical knowledge and understanding and inspire a passion for this subject.

Learning in EYFS encourages exploration of the world around us, particularly through the ‘Understanding the World’ area of development. All lessons in KS1 and KS2 follow the knowledge, skills and understanding objectives from the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) to ensure children access a broad and balanced curriculum. By carefully sequencing half-termly topics, meaningful geography lessons are taught to ensure all children have a solid understanding of the world around them and children build on their understanding as they progress through the school. In KS1, there is a focus on developing their knowledge of the local area and, as they progress into KS2, pupils are given opportunities to compare and contrast different localities to understand the more complex interactions between natural and human processes. Regular formative and summative assessment ensures all children make strong progress across the school.