Patterdale Geography Curriculum

INTENT

At Patterdale:

• When children leave, they will be outward-looking, global citizens, aware of the wider world.
• Speaking and vocabulary is a key part of the Geography Curriculum.
• Effective use of technology is used to inspire and make learning memorable.
• We prioritise quality first-hand fieldwork experiences especially in our local area.
• The children will leave understanding the uniqueness and beauty of their place.
• Field trips and inspirational visitors will be used to enhance the teaching.

TEACHING MIXED AGE CLASSES

Children are taught in mixed age classes. Geography topics are planned on a 2 - 4-year cycle, to meet the requirements of the national curriculum, revisit core concepts and ensure progression. When teaching a unit, teachers use formative assessment and our geography progression of skills document, to adapt their teaching, to build on solid foundations and fill any learning gaps.

CONTENT

At Patterdale C of E Primary School we deliver geography through the CUSP curriculum.

CUSP Geography draws upon several powerful sources of knowledge. It is our intention that pupils become a little more expert as they progress through the curriculum, accumulating and connecting substantive and disciplinary geographical knowledge.

1.    Substantive knowledge – this is the subject knowledge and explicit vocabulary used to learn about the content. Common misconceptions are explicitly revealed as non-examples and positioned against known and accurate content as pupils become more expert in their understanding. 

2.    Disciplinary knowledge – this is the use of that knowledge and how children construct understanding through processes, evidence, pattern seeking, reasoning and explaining change. We call it ‘Thinking Geographically’.

3.    Geographical analysis is developed through selecting, organising and integrating knowledge through reasoning and inference making in response to structured questions and challenges.

4.    Substantive concepts include place, space, scale, interdependence, physical and human processes, environmental impact, sustainable development, cultural awareness and cultural diversity. Concepts such as change through erosion are taught through explicit vocabulary instruction as well as through the direct content and context of the study.

At Patterdale:

• Each lesson starts with a question.
• Key vocabulary is shared at the start of a lesson.
• Maps are displayed to refer to.
• Knowledge map is displayed in children’s books for each unit.
• Children use lesson knowledge notes to support their learning.
• Teachers make revisits of previous learning.
• Children record their work in Geography books.
• Geography is taught in modules throughout the year.

ASSESSMENT & MONITORING

Children are assessed at the end of each lesson based on the lesson question.

CUSP quizzes support ongoing teacher assessment.

CUSP quizzes can also be used at the end of a unit.

Retrieval practice is built into lessons to assess understanding.