At Bishop’s Waltham Junior School the health, safety and well-being of every child is our top priority.

Geography

National Curriculum Aims for Geography

Pupils should extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

Pupils should be taught to:

Locational knowledge

• locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities.
• name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time.
• identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night).

Place knowledge

• understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America Human.

Physical geography - describe and understand key aspects of:

• physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle.
• human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water. 

Geographical skills and fieldwork

• use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied.
• use the eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and key (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build their knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world.
• use fieldwork to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies.

Geography at Bishop's Waltham Junior School

Intent

• To inspire fascination within our pupils to the variety, diversity, beauty and awe of the planet we live on. Ultimately, providing them with an enjoyable and stimulating geography curriculum which will inspire them to pursue new life experiences in the future, as well as equipping them for KS3 and life as an adult.
• To provide a broad and balanced curriculum in geography, which meets the needs and stimulates all of our pupils to develop a love of learning about their world.
• To expose children to the problems our world faces, the changes which are happening and the solutions that they can be a part of.
• To introduce our pupils to the investigative nature of geography as a subject, and provide the pupils with the skills to access resources, equipment and technology needed to understand and explore our diverse world. We strive to equip them with the skills needed to navigate and investigate locations around the globe, and offer them opportunities to participate in field work and first hand experiences which provide opportunities to use the skills associated with being a geographer.
• To provide opportunities where our pupils can collect and analyse data to understand issues, patterns and events of the planet.
• To develop the children’s awareness and recognition of the worlds features, continents, cities etc.
• To offer opportunities for our pupils to compare and contrast their own physical location to other communities, environments, climates and geographical positions around the world.
• To develop their understanding of the physical features of the globe including its geological make up, climates, biomes, physical processes and physical features.

Implementation

• The subject leader plans the curriculum units, ensuring that the curriculum stays relevant and up to date through contact with other professionals. The curriculum ensures that a variety of skills and topics are covered, including opportunities for field work and enrichment activities.
• Usually, teachers teach geography to their own class as a stand-alone weekly lesson. Occasionally, geography may be blocked across a day or two days so topics, skills or field can be developed through a sustained period of time. The subject leader liaises with teachers across each year group to offer support where necessary, and monitors how planning is implemented.
• When appropriate and relevant, the geography curriculum is linked to other curriculum areas to provide context for tasks.
• Geography has been planned to offer each year group an opportunity to contrast their own local environment to the wider world.
• The rationale behind the topics and units, and where they fit across the age ranges are mainly based on for reason:
  • To ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum.
  • To meet the needs and ages of our children, for example we have selected very different locations to compare in Year 3 as this would be easier, whilst in Year 6 we have decided upon more similar locations as this skills is trickier.
  • We have linked some of our Geography units to the themes and topics covered within other curriculum subjects
  • The need to revisit, build upon and consolidate ideas and themes throughout the school.
• Each unit builds upon the geographical skills learnt within previous year groups and units.
• The curriculum is delivered using a range of physical resources (maps, atlases, measuring devices, photographs, graphs etc.) and using up to date technology, for example Google Earth and maps, Bing Maps with OS overlay, Interactive Apps for monitoring seismic activity, world clocks and web cams.

• The curriculum units allow children to develop and apply the skills associated with geography to a range of scenarios and locations.
• Using the MTP plan, teachers assess their children’s learning each unit, and these assessments are passed up to the next teacher who then has a realistic view of the children’s starting points when the skills are re-taught.

Impact

As a result of our whole school geography curriculum, pupils of Bishop’s Waltham Junior School will:

• Be able to use atlases, maps, grid references, compass directions and technology to support and explore locations and geographical features.
• Be able to locate locations around the globe and use symbols and legends to identify key human and physical features.
• Have a bank of knowledge of the continents, countries and cities around the UK, Europe and beyond.
• Be familiar with positional geography (equator, tropics, longitude, hemispheres etc.) and where and why these occur on the globe.
• Have had the opportunity to compare and contrast the diversity of the world in regards to climate, trade, settlements, distribution of resources, biomes, elevation and physical features human and natural.
• Experienced and enjoyed the opportunities and experiences of being able to look at our world and its natural and human diversity.

Success will be monitored through:

• Summative assessment at the end of each unit which identifies children working below or above expected levels in the AREs.
• Discussion with staff about their successes in geography.
• Discussion with children to explore their own self-perceived strengths and interests in geography, and areas where they feel there is a need for improvement.

Curriculum Overview

Year Three

Year Four

Year Five

Year Six

Geography Enquiry & Skills

 A geographical enquiry involves children:

• asking geographical questions
• collecting and recording evidence
• analysing evidence and drawing conclusions
• identifying and explaining different views that people, including themselves, hold about topical geographical issues
• communicating in ways appropriate to the task and audience 

Geographical skills involve children :

• using appropriate geographical vocabulary
• using appropriate fieldwork techniques and instruments
• using atlases, globes, maps and plans at a range of scales
• using secondary sources of information, including aerial photographs
• drawing plans and maps at a range of scales
• using ICT to help in geographical investigations
• using decision-making skills

Geography Enrichment at Home

The following ideas are things you could do at home to support your child's learning in geography.

Year Three - Our Local Area- Bishops Waltham

• Walks around the area, take a different route home, search for Christmas Lights, participate in BW Trails for Halloween etc.
• Travel further a field to see the variety of landscapes in Hampshire, Winchester Hill, St Catherine’s Hill, Lee-on-the-Solent, Hamble, The New Forest, The South Downs.
• Walk the Hamble
• Treasure Trails
• Visit Winchester - BW Trail

Year Three - Nepal, Mountains and Earthquakes

• Visit The Natural History Museum, London for an Earthquake simulation
• Walk up St Catherine’s Hill
• Walk Old Winchester Hill
• Butster Hill visit

Year Four - Economic Activity

• Towards the end of the term you could visit a local chocolate factory.
• Head to Southampton a view the large variety of trade coming into the country via Southampton Docks.
• Visit Laverstoke Park or other local farms to see Economic Activity on your doorstep.
• Top floor of West Quay Shopping Centre- excellent views over how Southampton docks etc. This shows how Southampton makes it money. (Docks, Cruise, Hotels, Cinema, shops, etc.)
• Trip around Portsmouth Harbour from Gunwharf- how Portsmouth makes it money.
• Visit the marina at Port Solent- how does Portsmouth make its money?

Year Four - Natural Resources

• Visit one of the old quarries. Old chalk Quarry on Portsdown Hill (Friends of Portsdown)
• Amberley chalk mines

Year Five - Location Study - France

• Getting to know our own environment really well.
• Use OS maps to explore our area.
• Take local walks.
• Plan a tour of Bishop’s Waltham which you could show a tourist.
• Plan a local fun day trip.
• Treasure Trails - Bishop's Waltham

Year Five - Rivers

• Walk along The Test, The Itchen, The Hamble, The Meon, The Beaulieu or the Basingstoke Canal. Maybe do a few and then you can compare the uses, environments etc.
• Find the source of The Itchen, Test or Meon.
• Do a little River Dipping or Fishing
• Ride the Pink Ferry on the Hamble
• Take a boat trip

Year Six - Biomes

• Marwell Zoo
• How many different types of habitats can you visit in a 10 mile radius of Bishop’s Waltham?
• Visit Holly Hill and find the different habitats.
• Living Rain Forest
• Swanmore Nature Reserve
• New Forest
• South Downs
• Beer Forest Walk
• A river walk

Year Six - Hawaii and Volcanoes

• Visit The Natural History Museum, London

The National Curriculum for Geography

National Curriculum - Geography