Geography
Here at Whittlefield, we want to develop an understanding of our world, through experience, investigation and learning from secondary sources. Geography helps children to gain a greater understanding of the ways of life and cultures of people in other places. This will help to enable children to take responsibility for their role in society and to develop a caring attitude towards others, animals and plants in our environment. Geography is concerned with the study of places, the human and physical processes which shape them and the people who live in them. Children study their local area and contrasting places in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. The study of the local area forms an important part of the geography taught at our school and activities are planned to build upon the children’s knowledge and understanding of the local area.
Through our teaching of geography we aim to:
Develop children’s geographical understanding and competence in specific geographical skills.
Help children acquire and develop the skills and confidence to undertake, investigation, problem solving and decision making.
Stimulate the children’s interest in and curiosity about their surroundings.
Create and foster a sense of wonder about the world.
Inspire a sense of responsibility for the environments and people of the world we live in.
Increase the children’s knowledge and awareness of our changing world, so that they will want to look after the Earth and its resources and think about how it can be improved and sustained.
Begin to develop respect for, and an interest in, people throughout the world regardless of culture, race and religion.
Develop a sense of identity by learning about the United kingdom and its relationship with other countries.
We also hope to:
Improve pupils skills across the curriculum, especially in Literacy, Numeracy and ICT.
Develop thinking skills.
Develop pupils as active citizens.
Promote awareness and understanding of spiritual and moral issues.
The programmes of study for both Key Stage 1 and 2 are based on:
Locational knowledge
Place knowledge
Human and Physical geography
Geographical skills and fieldwork
Teaching at Whittlefield Primary ensures that geographical enquiry skills are used when developing knowledge and understanding of places, patterns and processes, and environmental change and sustainable development.
By the end of Key Stage 1, most children will be expected to:
Describe the main features of localities and recognise their similarities and differences
Recognise where things are and why they are as they are
Recognise changes in the environment of localities and how people affect the environment
Find out and express views about people, places and environments by asking and answering questions and by using their own observations and other geographical skills and resources
By the end of Key Stage 2, most children will be expected to:
Explain the physical and human characteristics of places and their similarities and differences, and know the location of significant places and environments in the UK, Europe and the World
Explain patterns of physical and human features, and recognise how selected physical and human processes cause changes in the character of places and environments
Describe how people can damage and improve the environment and recognise how and why people may seek to manage environments sustainably
Undertake geographical enquiry by asking and responding to questions, identifying and explaining different views and using a range of geographical skills, resources and their own observations