VISION -Being a Geographer at Lyppard Grange Primary School

At Lyppard Grange Primary School, we believe that Geography gives pupils an understanding of the world around them, places near and far, its environments, and the processes that create and affect them. Children are geographers at Lyppard Grange; they are excited to find out more about our world in the classroom and experience practical fieldwork in our forest school as well as the local area. With climate change, human impact and the environment part of our curriculum, our children ask big questions about they world they live in. They study diverse places across the globe and compare these places with their own environment. Children will, in turn, develop a passion for the world and a sense of responsibility for sustaining and protecting it.

Children are inspired by exciting and relevant themes and can see a link with Geography in school and their own futures. At Lyppard Grange Primary School, teaching is creative and inspiring with golden threads running through themes that are aimed at capturing children’s enthusiasm and interest.  

INTENT 

At Lyppard Grange Primary School, we want our pupils to develop an interest in the world in which we live, the people around it and the different environments that are found in it. We want to foster their curiosity about the world around them that enables them to grow as geographers and as global citizens. We want them to gain local knowledge as well as wider place knowledge, making comparisons between them, and understand the processes, human and physical, that occur within those places. In addition, they will gain fieldwork skills that enable them to study those places, develop their understanding, and equip them for their future. As geographers at Lyppard Grange Primary School, we want our pupils to have an awareness of their responsibility in creating a sustainable future for our planet. 

By providing well thought out, inspiring and engaging lessons, it is the intent of Lyppard Grange Primary School to ensure that pupils meet the aims of the national curriculum for geography and the early years foundation stage framework set out below.

Early Years Foundation Stage: Understanding the World

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.

People, Culture and Communities

• Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps.
• Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
• Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate – maps.

The Natural World

• Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants.
• Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
• Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.

Key stages 1 and 2

The national curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
• understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
• are competent in the geographical skills needed to:

• collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
• interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

Key stage 1

Pupils should develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality. They should understand basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness.

Pupils should be taught to:

Locational knowledge

• name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans
• name, locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas

Place knowledge

• understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of a small area of the United Kingdom, and of a small area in a contrasting non-European country

Human and physical geography

• identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles
• use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to:

• key physical features, including: beach, cliff, coast, forest, hill, mountain, sea, ocean, river, soil, valley, vegetation, season and weather
• key human features, including: city, town, village, factory, farm, house, office, port, harbour and shop

Geographical skills and fieldwork

• use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans studied at this key stage
• use simple compass directions (North, South, East and West) and locational and directional language [for example, near and far; left and right], to describe the location of features and routes on a map
• use aerial photographs and plan perspectives to recognise landmarks and basic human and physical features; devise a simple map; and use and construct basic symbols in a key
• use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.

Key stage 2

Pupils should extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

Pupils should be taught to:

Locational knowledge

• locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities
• name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time
• identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)

Place knowledge

• understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America

Human and physical geography

• describe and understand key aspects of:

• physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle
• human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water

Geographical skills and fieldwork

• use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied
• use the eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and key (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build their knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world
• use fieldwork to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies.

IMPLEMENTATION 

With exciting grabs to introduce new themes such as messages about missing dinosaur eggs from Argentina, being sent on a quest around the world, to becoming ‘Climate Cops’, children are drawn into a location or topic in an engaging, challenging and thought-provoking way. Children study a range of places, habitats and environments around the globe, from Worcester in the UK to Sydney in Australia, and from our local Forest School habitat to the Amazon rainforest. The cross-curricular approach at Lyppard Grange enables geography topics to be linked with other subjects such as history, for example the link between the English Civil War and the River Severn. Children are inspired by current and relevant geographical topics such as daily and seasonal weather patterns, climate change, and deforestation. Within lessons, children will be taught key vocabulary, build on previous knowledge, and be given opportunities for both independent and group work. From our Early Years children to Year 6, geography skills are being taught including using and creating maps, comparing different regions in the world and how humans impact the environment.

IMPACT 

From the geography teaching at Lyppard Grange Primary School, our children will gain an understanding of their local environment and the wider world, and the physical and human characteristics of those places. They will develop their knowledge of the location of places on a local, national, and global scale. In addition, they will develop a sense of responsibility for sustainability and conservation and how they can be a responsible global citizen. They will learn to express their ideas and questions on a variety of topics such as climate change and deforestation and explore the wonder of different biomes throughout the globe. Through undertaking fieldwork, pupils will gain a range of transferable skills including teamwork and problem solving. With engaging and creative teaching, our aim is for pupils for become curious, excited and passionate about the world around them, its environments and the processes that create and affect them.