This page provides prospective parents and visitors with a glimpse into our curriculum. Parents of Blue School pupils are provided with detailed guides to subject planning in the form of ‘Knowledge Organisers’ in Parent Zone.
Within the Christian context of the Blue School, we perceive Geography to be concerned with the study of places, the human and physical processes which shape them and the people who live in them. At the Blue School children study their local area, contrasting localities within the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Through their growing knowledge and understanding of human geography, children gain an appreciation of life in other cultures. Geography teaching also motivates children to find out about the physical world and enables them to recognise the importance of sustainable development for the future of mankind. The National Curriculum Handbook 2014 describes the importance of Geography thus:
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 aims are achieved by:
In the Early Years department we aim to explore geography through *Understanding of the World; The World and Creative sections of the development matters statements.
Geography plays a significant role in an Early Years classroom. Children are encouraged to appreciate other cultures through dress up, food tasting, studying cultural artefacts. In Reception the children complete a topic called ‘Around the World’ which allows children to experience other places and cultures.
‘As a young geographer, I’m an explorer.’ Through our geography curriculum, pupils at The Blue School will be provided with opportunities and experiences to explore their local area and the wider world around. The geography curriculum incorporates fundamental geographical knowledge and skills, allowing pupils to build on a firm foundation in future years. It will help pupils to make sense of their surroundings and to gain a better understanding of the variety of physical and human features on the earth’s surface.
Pupils will learn about both their local area as well as a variety of localities throughout the world. They will explore how people manage, adapt and survive in different environments. They will also consider the impact that people have on their environments both in a positive and negative way. In addition, they will also learn how their own personal actions and the actions of others can have an impact on the environment.
Children’s geographical learning starts with the familiar and slowly builds outwards, from London, to the UK, Europe, South America and Africa. Their understanding of how their local area fits into the wider world is therefore gradually accrued. Understanding of physical geography also starts with the familiar: from the seaside in Year 2, to mountains and volcanoes in Year 3 and rivers in Year 4.
Progression within the curriculum is clear: it starts with what is familiar to children and extends outwards. Progression in fieldwork skills is built across units, with the London units in Year 1 and Map makers unit in Year 2 and the field work unit in year 6 offering rich opportunities for mapping, technical drawing and exploring their environment in a concrete physical way. Other units offer scope for children to use digital resources, globes, atlases and Geographical Information Systems to explore regions. Key technical and tier 2 vocabulary is mapped onto each unit, allowing children to build a rich bank of geographical language.
Links are built with other subjects, predominantly but not exclusively with writing, art, maths and science.