Geography
Geography at Tavistock Primary and Nursery School
Our Geography curriculum is designed to give all students the confidence and experience to help inform and shape ideas about the world; investigating the human and physical strands of this multi-faceted subject. This will enable students to become global citizens and have the cultural literacy to be role models for the future and set a trail for others to emulate, considering themes such as sustainability, development and climate change in their everyday lives.
Geography offers the opportunity to study a range of topics that investigate the physical processes of our planet, human societies and the economic and environmental challenges within the local, national and global context. This gives students the confidence to interact with the wider world, leading to fulfilled and positive life experiences. The curriculum encourages students to ask questions, develop critical thinking skills, and layer a deeper understanding of complex concepts as children progress through the school building on prior knowledge.
Geographical skills are embedded within units of work throughout all key stages. Students develop their cartographic, graphical, ICT and GIS (Geographic information system) skills. Fieldwork enquiries enable students to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding within both human and physical Geography. Children are able to practice and apply skills during garden days and local trips to Dartmoor, Tavistock, Plymouth and the Eden Project.
Geography often bridges the curriculum, from the physical processes in Science, consolidating ideas around rocks and rivers; History, tying links to settlement development and the impact on rural areas to; the quantitative skills of Mathematics, analysing and creating data. Students are able to use these connections to excel in the wider world.
At Tavistock Primary School we provide a geographically tailored curriculum that utilizes our unique position in the heart of historic Tavistock. Our curriculum encompasses key school values such as Resilience, Responsibility, Co-Operation and Understanding, through in depth investigations into human and physical geography and revisiting previous learning as the children progress through the curriculum, deepening understanding.
By the end of KS1 we aim for children to gain:
- an understanding of weather changes through observational skills;
- an understanding of compass points;
- an awareness of their immediate location expanding to Europe.
By the end of KS2 we aim for children to gain:
- knowledge of human geography including economic contrasts;
- knowledge of the diverse characteristics of places and landscapes;
- an understanding of interactions and interrelationships on the Earth’s surface;
- knowledge of locations, places, processes, environments and different scales;
- access to a range of Geographical concepts and terminology within context that can be understood at various levels of sophistication. Understanding how they are used in relation to places, environments and processes; the interrelationships between places, environments and processes;
- knowledge and understanding to interpret, analyse and evaluate geographical information and issues to make judgments, this allows students to show a greater depth of understanding and evaluate appreciation of the interrelationships between different aspects of geographical study;
- a range of geographical skills, including cartographic, graphical, numerical and statistical;
- access to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to view analyse and interpret places and data;
The document below gives further detail of the content taught in each year group. It also provides information about inclusion within geography.