gEOGRAPHY
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Intent |
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At Mayfield CE Primary School, we aim to prepare our learners for their future by giving them the opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills that will equip them for an ever changing world. Through our core Christian values of Compassion, Respect, Responsibility and Perseverance, we believe that all children can be successful, creative and curious learners. By studying the geography curriculum we want our children to have a secure knowledge and understanding: of both British and worldwide locational knowledge; place knowledge- studying both the human and physical geography of a region in the UK, Europe and North or South America; physical geography; human geography and geographical skills and fieldwork. We look to encourage creativity enabling the children to understand the varying methods of geographical enquiry and to find unique connections and interpretations to the above geographical concepts, which can often be cross-curricular.
At Mayfield we help to build on children’s independence to participate in their own pathways to successful outcomes. We support the children in being able to ask perceptive questions, critical thinking, weighing evidence, debate and developing their own perspective and judgements. Our intention is that the geography curriculum aims to support our children being able to understand the complexity of the world’s environments, exploring their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries and major cities. Gaining the knowledge of the physical geography of different environments e.g. rivers; mountains; volcanoes and earthquakes; climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts and the water cycle. Understanding and challenging the human geography of our planet and the distribution of natural resources and using these skills further to interpret maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping resulting in applying our geographical skills into fieldwork in our local area.
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Implementation |
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At Mayfield C E Primary our aim is to deliver a broad, balanced, relevant and exciting curriculum which is designed to not only develop a love of learning which will last a lifetime, but also to inspire the physical, spiritual, moral, social, literate, mathematical and scientific development of our pupils. We structure and plan the National Curriculum to ensure that good practice remains central, equality of opportunity is ensured and integrated into our humanities topics, projects, home learning and subject teaching. Each term every year group teacher chooses an overall theme/project and commences the learning with an inquisitive question that will be answered as the learning progresses. Each term/project is planned and developed using the National Curriculum, as well as school policies and guidelines. From the termly plan overviews the teachers prepare their timetable to deliver the key concepts and skills for the relevant subject areas. The teacher prepares a range of activities for each of the subjects and through on-going assessment, and then addresses the differing needs of all the children.
Our Learning Approaches Our belief is that the curriculum should be child-centred, based on practical, hands-on, concrete experiences, using our local geographical location, (e.g. the historical village of Mayfield, our connections with the Church – St Dunstan’s and surrounding countryside – an area of outstanding natural beauty.) So that each child has the opportunity to build on their knowledge skills, concepts and attitudes through understanding. We assess where each child is when they enter the school at whatever key stage. We begin from that point and take the child through the geography curriculum that is appropriate to their individual needs, so that they may be offered an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential. EYFS At Mayfield C E Primary We understand the importance of early experiences and these are carried out throughout provision and during outdoor learning sessions, within the Early Learning Goals. Children are actively encouraged to explore the geography terminology of People, Culture and Communities, within their understanding, (e.g. describing their immediate environment using their knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps,) with a focus on developing positive attitudes and interest in the subject. In EYFS, practitioners carry out ongoing formative assessment and make judgements against the Early Learning Goals with reference to ‘Development Matters’ to inform children’s next steps. Assessment Teachers assess pupils’ learning in Terms 3, and 5 and track their progress on Insight Tracker. Teacher judgements are subject to regular moderation and are discussed in Pupil Progress Meetings to highlight next steps. Teachers will undertake regular formative assessments to monitor progress and identify if support is needed at the earliest opportunity. Inclusion Mayfield C E Primary have high ambitions for every pupil, particularly SEND, disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils. Teachers regularly monitor and assess pupils’ learning to identify if there are any children who require further challenge or support. Pupils that need further challenge will be encouraged to work more deeply within the learning objective, working on diving deeper into the chosen topic area and capturing the information appropriately. Lessons will be differentiated to ensure that children needing further support have appropriate resources and scaffolding to enable them to successfully access the learning, thus offering provision to secure any gaps in understanding.
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Impact |
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The implementation of this curriculum ensures that when children leave Mayfield C E Primary School, they have the knowledge and skills in Geography that they need to transition successfully to the next stage of their education by understanding how geography is relevant to everyday life. Our pupils will be confident in their own abilities and proud of their achievements. Through their rich and varied learning experiences, our children will be able to recall and apply their knowledge of understanding the complexity of the world around us and other countries including North and South America, Europe and the United Kingdom, as well as local knowledge and the impact this has on people’s lives. This work will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features and developing their use of geographical knowledge in understanding and using their skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge. This knowledge will be, underpinned by our core Christian Values of Compassion, Respect, Responsibility and Perseverance - giving them ‘Wings to Soar.’ We will regularly review, reflect upon and evaluate our Geography curriculum to ensure that it meets the needs of all the children in our school. |