At St Thomas, our geography provision is designed to develop and foster a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will stay with them long beyond their time with us. The intent for this subject is supported and informed by current national guidance on best practice, in-service training, staff discussion and professional judgement.

Aims for Geography:

1. Through a broad, balanced and inclusive curriculum, children will develop the knowledge and skills to help increase their curiosity of the wider world.
2. To provide our children with the specific language they need to describe, question and discuss the world, as well as their place in it.
3. To encourage children to investigate the world around them in order to help them understand diverse places, people and natural and human environments

What does Geography look like at St Thomas?

All Geography lessons are taught by class teachers. The units are taught in blocks within a half term, on a weekly basis. Our planning and teaching is guided and supported by the national curriculum.

At the start of each topic, existing knowledge is checked by the teacher. This is to ensure that our teaching links with the children’s starting points and that the children’s voice has been taken into account.

To further support the children’s learning, knowledge organisers are used. Class teachers will use them in a variety of ways to provide the children with key facts, information and specific vocabulary about particular topics. Knowledge organisers are a fantastic way to help with pre-teaching and home learning.

At St Thomas, we believe making Geography lessons memorable therefore planning class trips, workshops and educational visitors are very important to support and enhance learning. To help the learning experiences even more, class teachers are also encouraged to use a range of resources such as videos, photographs and newspaper articles during lessons.

During the teaching of the units, frequent assessments are carried out. Questions asked by the teacher throughout lessons are an effective way for them to assess the children’s understanding. At the end of each unit, assessment data is gathered onto an assessment system for teachers and the subject lead to monitor. Book monitoring and environment walks are conducted throughout the year by the subject lead and these are used to gain an insight into the teaching of Geography and to ensure the content and skills are being covered, as planned. Furthermore, pupil voice interviews are conducted by the subject lead.

St Thomas children will leave with a passion for Geography. They will have developed a strong curiosity to explore and investigate more about the world, their place in it and all the wonders that are there. Our children will have a growing knowledge of the world and a wider vocabulary along with it. Their time at St Thomas will enable them to have an understanding of appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider world.