How do we measure the impact of our geography curriculum?
Formal and Informal Assessment
Children are monitored on a regular basis to check progress. A range of Assessment for Learning strategies are used, for example peer marking, evaluation, self-assessments, traffic lighting achievement against objectives and success criteria, the use of talk partners and end of unit teacher/pupil evaluation. Through these, both children and adults are able to recognise the progress being made. At Our Lady of the Rosary, assessment is an integral part of the teaching process. Assessment is used to inform planning and to facilitate differentiation. The assessment of children’s work is on-going to ensure that understanding is being achieved and that progress is being made. Marking work will be guided by the school’s Marking Policy, feedback is given to the children as soon as possible, and improvements are made by children with purple pen or pencil (Key Stage 1).
Learning about our local area
Every year group at Our Lady’s spends some time in geography connecting with our local area and region. We recognise the importance of this and how children need to develop a sense of their own place before we can begin to make comparisons with places further afield.
For example: The Cumbria Jam Project
Children are asked to collect a wide range of things that represent Cumbria and make it special to them and put them in a jar to make a ‘jam’. Jars are always unique and creative, filled with a wide range of items and ideas from wool, local slate, recipes for Cumberland sausage, favourite Wainwright walks… and the list goes on!
The great outdoors
Learning outside of the classroom is a key focus at Our Lady of the Rosary and we try to offer opportunities for our children to learn in new environments whenever possible.
Caring for our environment
We believe as stewards of the planet that we must care for the environment and all life on earth. In response to the Laudato Si, we wrote letters to Pope Francis and have our own Eco-council. To support our work in understanding the problems caused by ocean plastic, the children chose to sponsor a turtle through the World Wildlife Fund.
Geography and ICT
We are lucky that all children have access to iPad and chromebooks which enables us to integrate technology and computing into all aspects of our curriculum. An example of this in geography would be where children have designed an animal that is perfectly adapted to the rainforest environment, explaining its key characteristics. Children then made modelling clay versions and created animations of their animal with the rainforest backdrop to make it ‘come alive’.
SMSC
Spiritual development: Through helping pupils to recognise the beauty and diversity of the world. A geographical awareness helps children understand their place in the world. Geography provides opportunities for children to learn about sites of wonder, or physical features that they might wish to visit in the future, for example the Grand Canyon.
Moral development: Through helping pupils to reflect on how the environment is affected by decisions made by people, so that the children can make informed choices in the future. Through discussion, the children learn to appreciate the moral dilemmas posed by introducing changes to the environment (for example, building a motorway or rail link) and the effects this can have on the surrounding area.
Social development: Through helping pupils to understand the need to consider the views of others when discussing localities, settlements and the environment. Work on a locality in a less economically developed country provides an opportunity to discuss social issues. Fieldwork encourages collaborative projects, making the most of different strengths and interests within a team.
Cultural development: By exploring different settlements, the children can gain knowledge of different cultures, learning tolerance and understanding of their diversity.