Geography

Geography at Harriers Banbury Academy

Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

At Harriers Banbury Academy our Geography curriculum inspires pupils to have a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, places, resources and environments, that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We also aim to promote the pupil’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

Our three whole school threads are:

To understand the earth’s key physical and human processes and how these have changed over time.
To explain key similarities and differences between different globally significant places.
To evaluate the impact humans have on the planet.

Throughout their time at Harriers Banbury Academy, pupils will build upon and revisit these threads progressively to develop pupils’ skills and knowledge. These are interwoven into units along with the main thread of Geography; locational knowledge, human and physical Geography, place knowledge and field knowledge and geographical skills.

Implementation

Geography is implemented into our curriculum in a number of different ways:

The progression of knowledge and skills enables pupils to build on their prior learning year on year.
Every lesson has a Learning Question which the pupils will be able to answer by the end of the lesson or sequence of lessons.
We give pupils access to a range of different resources such as; atlases, a variety of maps, digital technology and books.
At Harriers Banbury Academy we provide a range of different fieldwork opportunities from Early Years to Year 6. Across every year groups we make use of our forest school area to make observational sketches, simple maps and observe different natural processes. We use our local area where pupils are able to see how canals and rivers have helped our town. In Year 6, pupils have made observational sketches and use maps of our town. In Year 3 we have a trip to Bournemouth where the pupils are able to see first-hand the differences between a coastal area and a town.
Throughout their time at Harriers Banbury Academy, pupils will study a range of different locations from towns, cities, countries and continents. This ensures that by the time they leave they have a broad range of knowledge from around the world.
There are a number of different Human and Physical geography topics that pupils learn about during their time at Harriers Banbury Academy. In Early Years and Year 1 they explore different types of weather and the seasons. In Year 3 they look at rock formation and as they move into Year 5 they look at the water cycle and how rivers and valleys are formed. Then in Year 6 they look at earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis.

Impact

For pupils to enjoy every aspect of the Geography curriculum, this will be evident in pupil voice as well as in pupils’ books.
To educate pupils on the impact humans have on the planet and how they can have a positive impact on the environment.
For pupils to become more connected with the world around them and the process in it.
Providing pupils with a range of experiences with transferable 21^st century skills in and outside the classroom.
Books will show a range of tasks including, written work, drawings and diagrams to show their understanding.
Pupil voice will show the impact fieldwork has on the pupil’s understanding of the world.