William Penn School
Geography Intent
At William Penn Primary School, we aim to equip our children with the knowledge about natural and human environments alongside finding out about the Earth’s key physical and human processes through a high-quality geographical curriculum. We understand that geography is all about exploring the world and all its wonders. We want our pupils to experience a real and relevant curriculum where pupils gain knowledge that helps them to understand how features and processes have shaped how we live and see things today. We encourage our pupils to ask questions to explore these topics and plan practical, hands-on tasks to understand the world around us.
The geography curriculum at William Penn School seeks to develop creative and critical thinking within the subject by firstly embedding knowledge while building confidence and competence. We aim to create informed and active future citizens, with knowledge that has been sequenced effectively, to ensure that the children have a good understanding of core locational knowledge alongside physical and human geography. Units are chosen specifically to stretch children’s knowledge and skills development. They are centred around an overarching topic that runs throughout the term, with a key focus on core technical vocabulary and understanding.
SEND Geography Statement
Like the rest of the school, geography has adopted an inclusive approach: learning is not differentiated for need but is adapted by the class teacher to enable all pupils to have access to the learning.
When teachers plan, they ensure all children can access and engage in the learning. Key questions are used, with key vocabulary, to make the learning clear, and class discussion will focus on how this links to the children’s previous learning. The learning is scaffolded with the support of the teacher and teaching assistant.
Key vocabulary and stem sentences are displayed in the classrooms so the children can use refer to these throughout the lesson. Word banks are also used to further support the learning.
We believe in hands on, practical learning and this supports discussion and exploration among children. Children are seated in groups, which offers support to each other to further extend their learning.
Some children may require pre-exposure to the content of the lesson, and therefore we sometimes use pre-teaching to introduce new vocabulary and the context of the lesson before the whole class session.
‘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.’
National Curriculum