Geography Curriculum vision
At South Walney Junior School we have a clear, coherent vision for our Geography curriculum.
The study of geography involves our pupils in exploring the relationship and interactions between people and the environments in which they live and upon which they depend. Many of the pupils who now attend our school will live to see the next century and inhabit a world of eleven billion people. The many opportunities and challenges that will arise during their lifetime will be very much about geography – personal, local, national and global. From adapting and mitigating the impact of climate change and predicting natural hazards such as tsunami and earthquakes, to understanding the causes and effects of population migration around the world, our pupils will need to know about geography and to think like geographers. Geographers make links and connections between the natural world and human activity. In line with the statutory requirements of the national curriculum for geography which must be balanced and broadly based, our school commits to ensuring that every pupil at every stage of learning has regular and appropriately challenging and engaging learning in geography.
Our overarching aim for Geography at South Walney Junior School is to:
- help prepare our pupils for life in the 21st century with all of its currently unknown possibilities.
- help to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in an increasingly globalised world.
- ensure that what our pupils learn in geography and how they learn it not only inspires and challenges them intellectually but also contributes to their spiritual, moral, cultural and physical development
- ‘know more, remember more, do more’ about the world through specific teaching of key vocabulary and substantive and disciplinary knowledge.
We believe we have an inspirational, ambitious and coherently planned knowledge-rich Geography curriculum. Our curriculum aims to be transformative, raising aspirations to see beyond our locality as well as valuing the uniquely rich experience of living on Walney Island. We are aware that some of our pupils have limited geographical experience and so are passionate about expanding their knowledge and understanding using fieldtrips and visits/visitors when we can. We want to deliver a curriculum that will break the cycle of disadvantage that traps some of our pupils and Geography can help them overcome adversity.
Our Geography curriculum is underpinned by our core principles, using the mnemonic SAFE:
A Supportive school
helping children to Achieve
And Flourish
On a foundations of Excellence
