Geography
What are the aims of teaching geography?
The National Curriculum for England describes the purpose of geography as:
A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
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.
Geography at Birkby Junior School:
At Birkby Junior School, our whole school curriculum aims to provide a creative, enjoyable and rewarding learning experience for each child in an inclusive, secure and stimulating environment. We aim to deliver a high quality geography curriculum which enables and increases children’s knowledge about people and places. We aim to develop geographical enquiry, knowledge, skills and attitudes, to enable pupils to identify and understand and explain patterns both in human and physical geography. Our teaching equips pupils with a better understanding of our society and environment. This knowledge, skills and values developed can be used to help improve the world through social and environmental action. We want children to enjoy and love learning about Geography by gaining this knowledge and skills, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits.
Useful Geography websites:
https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/teacher-category/geography/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/