Geography

The subject lead for Geography is Louise Glover

At St John Evangelist Catholic Primary School, we see the role of geography as being an opportunity to provoke a child’s innate curiosity, and provide them with answers, about their local area and the wider world. Being an inner-city school, it is vital that children are exposed to the vast world that lies outside London, as well as the highly significant role that cities play.

We encourage children to develop their knowledge of the world, to witness the interconnection and to find their place in the ever-changing world. Our lessons provide children with geography specific skills, in addition to many transferable skills, all of which will help them to develop into well-rounded individuals. Geography is a very investigative subject: we allow children to learn concepts, deepen their knowledge and develop their skills so that they can become the independent learners of tomorrow.

Geography should increase children’s knowledge and understanding of different cultures within their home of Islington, but also on an international scale. Teaching diverse human geography lessons and deep physical geography lessons allow the children from inner London to open their eyes to the world that is before them. We make the most of the fantastic geographical opportunities that London has and regularly take advantage of the city’s parks, museums and green spaces.

We find it very important that children are given the opportunities to deepen their understanding of the interaction between human and physical geography. Children are taught progressive skills, that build on prior learning and provide the foundations for future learning. Geography is a very physical subject, so we are committed to ensuring that all children have opportunities for hands on learning in every unit. Children are taught to make their own connections between their learning and to identify when prior knowledge will allow them to deepen their understanding.

Individual topic books allow children to present their work in a variety of ways: photos, diagrams, extended writing and notes. They provide our children with the opportunity to reflect on previous learning in preparation for each new lessons. Topic books also provide the foundations of discussions about their learning, throughout their time with us. Children can speak fervently on geographical topics that they have studied and they can articulate how the activities they undertook provided them with learning opportunities and new knowledge. Teachers plan highly engaging and interesting lessons that regularly pique the interest of all learners. Teachers hold very high expectations of the children, their work and their topic books: these high expectations are matched by the children’s pride in their work. Skills ladders are used by both children and teachers throughout topics. For children, they provide an overview of their learning so that they can start to make personal connections: for teachers, they provide a clear progression of skills that need to be taught, reviewed or consolidated. Geography lessons allow us to equip the children of the future with the tools they will need to make the world a better place.