Geography

Vision for Geography Learning

Intent

At Morda our geography curriculum seeks to inspire pupils to become responsible and courageous local and global citizens. We use Mantle of the Expert fictional contexts as a tool to transport our pupils to the most inaccessible places in the world and also to explore geographical challenges in our own locality.

Pupils are taught key physical and human knowledge of the world regularly, in order to embed this information in their long-term memory. Within carefully constructed fictional contexts, pupils visit places of geographical interest and explore and influence geographical challenges as if they were operating in the real world. Our pupils are led by our Christian Values of Courage, Compassion and Fairness as the consider difficult geographical challenges in the world. Through the geography curriculum, they reflect on their own actions and responsibilities to other people, to the environment and to the sustainability of the planet.
Our eco -school committee encourages children become responsible eco-citizens and make a positive impact on their local and global environment.

Curriculum Design and Pedagogical Approach

Teachers use the Rolling Planning Frameworks to identify the subject content for each Geography topic for example KS1 African Adventure . Using the Geography Progression in Skills document below along with the National Curriculum Programmes of Study, teachers choose which aspects of the unit to emphasise.
Their choices are guided by the character of the class, the needs of different groups in the cohort and by the school’s core values of Compassion, Courage and Fairness. For example when designing the Mantle context for KS1 African adventure teachers chose to focus on issues of fairness, highlighting the inadequate educational facilities in the African village. Through the mantle children were encouraged to work together to build a new school. in KS2 Climate Emergency mantle children were encouraged to show compassion for the areas effected by climate change and make courageous choices in their role as environmental experts.
Teachers then produce a knowledge organiser which informs their Mantle of The Expert plan and contains the key knowledge. Mantle of the Expert is the primary pedagogical method for Geography alongside focused teaching using retrieval practice of elements that don’t fall easily into the Mantle plan.

Impact

Children leave Morda school with a good understanding of the geography of their own locality and the surrounding areas. They have a good knowledge of the world continents , countries and sustainability and their role in climate change. Children are able to use and identify features on a aerial map, os map, atlases and globes. They can talk in detail about physical and human features of the countries and location they have studied
They leave Morda with a good understanding of their role as global citizens and the impact they have on sustainability and climate change .