Geography

Intent

At Hawthorns, Geography is taught to provide an opportunity for students to develop their understanding of people and the world around them. It is taught by giving the students practical experiences and learning opportunities within a range of interesting and inspiring of topics. Students will become explorers of the world and its people around them. They will develop an awareness and interest of their own surroundings and beyond.

As all children at Hawthorns have Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs) inclusion and personalised learning is at the heart of the curriculum across all subjects. Teachers ensure that the planning and teaching of all lessons are relevant, meaningful and matches the needs/abilities of all children. Therefore, it is essential we adapt and personalise the teaching of Geographical knowledge and skills to suit the needs of all our children.

Geography skills and learning start by discovering and exploring their immediate world around them including the classroom and the school, moving into their community and then into the wider world. Throughout the students will develop the relevant skills to explore the world in greater depth.

Foundation: Immediate environment.
Stage 1: School.
Stage 2: Local community.
Stage 3: The United Kingdom.
Stage 4: Beyond the UK.
Stage 5: The World.
Stage 6: Geography Fieldwork

Geographical skills can be split into four areas: Location Knowledge, Place Knowledge (similarities and differences), Human and Physical Geography, and Geographical Skills and Fieldwork (maps, language and fieldwork). The curriculum is intended to develop the student curiosity and a fascination with the world and its people, and develop exploration, investigation, geographical vocabulary and questioning skills.

Implementation

How student experience the Geography curriculum will vary and depend on the pathway:

First Steps Pathway:

Within the First Steps Pathway, a variety of inspiring and exciting topics are explored throughout the year. These topics will give students various opportunities to explore and understand the world around them, giving them the foundations to develop geographical skills in the future.

Aspire Pathway:

Within the Aspire Pathway classes have topic areas which are rotated bi-annually and changed termly or half termly, and cover a range of subject areas including Geography. Geographical skills and knowledge will be the primary focus during the topic but by making cross curricular links it will deepen the understanding for the students and give geographical topics more relevance and meaning.

Co Pathway:

Within the Connections Pathway, a variety of inspiring and exciting topics are explored throughout the year including some geography specific based topics. These topics are immersive experiences for the students and are used a vehicle to teach core subjects as well as an opportunity to explore and use geographical skills and knowledge.

Enrichment Pathway:

Within the Enrichment Pathway, a variety of inspiring and exciting topics are explored throughout the year including some geography specific based topics. These topics are used a vehicle to teach core subjects as well as an opportunity to explore and use geographical skills and knowledge.

Geographical skills will also be taught within other areas of the curriculum such as:

My Personal Social and Emotion Development e.g. people who help me in my community

My Communication e.g. identifying similarities and differences

My Thinking and Problem Solving e.g. positional and directional language

Outdoor Learning / Eco

Through-out the year there are many celebratory days including Earth Day, World Outdoor Classroom Day, International Mountain Day, World Rivers Day which will provide many practical geographical learning opportunities. This will provide an opportunity for geography to be taught and experienced through-out the year, not just restricted within geographical topics.

Impact

By the time the children leave Hawthorns School they will:

Have experienced a wide variety of opportunities to explore different aspects of the Geography curriculum.
Improved understanding of the world around them