Geography Progression and Expectations
At St. Anne's, we want our children to develop the skills to make sense of their surroundings and the wider world. We want them to be able to use geographical resources with confidence, and then use geographical language to describe and explain their findings. After studying our immediate school and locality first, they will then move on to study different localities in both the British Isles but then on a world scale too. We want them to be able to make links between human behaviour and the impact this might have. We believe that in doing this, we can help them to make responsible choices and gain a firm understanding of how things are inter-related and inter-connected.
We have identified what we have described as 'sticky knowledge' for each of the units in each year group. Teachers regularly check children's recall of these facts. They are isolated facts and not linked to any particular topic. To build a bigger picture and develop their understanding of key concepts, and how concepts are linked across a number of topics, teachers make explicit links to this prior learning with the use of a Progression document. This document forms part of a suite of resources teachers use to help them plan effectively, and to look forward and back in the children's learning so that links can be made and prior learning remembered.
We want our children, as Geographers to have:
- An excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like
- An excellent understanding of the ways in which places are inter-dependent and inter-related
- An extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary
- Fluency in complex, geographical enquiry and the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques
- The ability to reach clear conclusions and develop a reasoned argument to explain findings
- Significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations and representations of the subject matter
- Highly developed and frequently utilised fieldwork and other geographical skills and techniques
- A passion for and commitment to the subject, and a real sense of curiosity to find out about the world and the people who live there
- The ability to express well-balance opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.