Geography
Subject Vision Statement – Geography
Content Rationale
- Substantial local study. This is to ensure children leave our school with a strong knowledge of the overseas environment where they have lived.
- As a British School there is a focus on Britain. This is to ensure children have good locational awareness of Britain. (Something they might not ordinarily have, since they do not currently live there.) This supports future return to their country of origin and a successful transition back to the UK.
- Comparisons of localities to make links and build on knowledge acquired.
- Internationalism – linked to our Belgian locality – is part of the overall content.
Structure Rationale
- The idea is for children’s exploration to expand. Starting local – term one - then branching out, to increase knowledge of the world, using local knowledge as a reference point to make links and build knowledge across the year.
- ‘Threads’ of learning in KS2 provide coherence to help children make links and build knowledge chronologically. (Across Europe (Local), World History/Global Issues, Ancient Civilisations.)
Pedagogical Approaches
Fieldwork skills.
This is because:
- Evolving technology (tablets/sat navs) potentially reduces opportunity to develop practical geographical skills, such as map reading, compass use and application. Fieldwork skills is to counter that.
- Modern culture is becoming increasingly indoors, which includes our community. Fieldwork skills are crucial to counter that.
- Some children thrive when expressing their learning through practical means. Fieldwork skills are to support this.
- We serve a military community. A proportion of our children are likely to join military professions. Here, careers often include features of orientation. Fieldwork skills are to support this.
Below you can find the Curriculum Overview for this topic.
