Geography

At South Harringay we believe that geography is, essentially about understanding the world we live in. It ‘underpins’ a lifelong conversation about the earth as the home of humankind. It is, by nature, an investigative subject, which provokes and provides answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. Therefore, we seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.  We strive to promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, hence, our geography curriculum is designed and sequenced to ensure that knowledge and skills gained are progressive and transferable to other curriculum areas. Our children will gain knowledge about: diverse places; people, resources and natural and human environments; together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.  Children are motivated to explore aspects of the different countries and cultures studied and, as their knowledge is enriched, their deepening understanding inspires respect and appreciation of the diversity and interconnectivity of our world and its citizens, thus enhancing their understanding of their place within it.

Our geography curriculum is shaped by our school vison which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability, or additional needs, to flourish in order to successfully continue their educational journey well beyond their time with us. As a result, geography is carefully mapped so that, at each phase, rigorous links are made between geographical concepts as well as other curriculum areas, fully equipping children with the knowledge and skills needed to progress. The teaching of geography at South Harringay focuses upon enabling children to think as geographers and a variety of pedagogical approaches are employed to achieve this. During the foundation stage, through Understanding the world, children are guided to make sense of their physical world and their community. Children are encouraged to: talk about the lives of people around them and their roles in society; the features of their own immediate environment; and how environments may vary from one another.  They make simple maps and are taught to use positional language. Through the Natural World, children observe the different seasons and use associated language to describe weather. Observations of animals and plants in their environment are encouraged, along with discussions about why things occur and why they might change.

In Key Stage One, children develop knowledge about the United Kingdom and their own locality. They learn how to use maps, atlases and globes, as well as simple compass directions. The children also study seasonal patterns in the United Kingdom and look at the hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles. In addition, a contrasting non-European country is studied. In Key Stage Two, children extend their knowledge beyond their local area to locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom. They study Europe (including Russia) as well as North and South America and identify the position and significance of the lines of longitude and latitude. They will look at similarities and differences of human geography such as types of settlement and land use. They will also study physical geographical elements such as: climate zones; biomes, vegetation belts; rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes; and the water cycle. Throughout the key stage, children continue to use maps, atlases and globes, embedding use of the eight points of the compass in their work. Four and six figure grid references are used and ordinance survey maps.

Throughout all phases, there is a strong emphasis on vocabulary, and as the range of vocabulary increases, our children become better equipped to investigate, explore, explain, question and think critically to inspire and address their curiosity about the earth and real-life issues. We believe that, as children develop the knowledge and skills of a geographer, they must be given the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in all areas of the subject, therefore, the local area is fully utilised: orienteering within school grounds; trips to local woodlands and parks and local museums all provide opportunities to further geographical learning; river and coastal studies and employing map reading skills are promoted during residential visits.

By the time our children are preparing for their time to join another village, they will:

• Have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• Have an excellent understanding of the ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected and how much human and physical environments are interrelated.
• Have an extensive base of geographical knowledge and vocabulary.
• Be fluent in complex, geographical enquiry and the have the ability to apply questioning skills and use effective analytical and presentational techniques.
• Have the ability to reach clear conclusions and develop a reasoned argument to explain findings.
• Have significant levels of originality, imagination or creativity as shown in interpretations and representations of the subject matter.
• Be highly developed and be able to utilise fieldwork and other geographical skills and techniques.
• Have the ability to express well-balanced opinions, rooted in very good knowledge and understanding about current and contemporary issues in society and the environment.
• Have a passion for and commitment to geography, and a real sense of curiosity to find out more about the world and the people who live in it.

You can view our progress map for geography by clicking here.