We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in our geography lessons. We believe in whole-class teaching methods, and we combine these with enquiry-based research activities. We encourage children to ask as well as answer geographical questions. We offer them the opportunity to use a variety of data, such as maps, statistics, graphs, pictures and aerial photographs, and we enable them to use ICT in geography lessons where this serves to enhance their learning. Children take part in role-play and discussions, and they present reports to the rest of the class. They engage in a wide variety of problem-solving activities. Wherever possible, we involve the children in ‘real’ geographical activities, e.g. research of a local environmental problem, or use of the Internet to investigate a current issue.
Subject Policies/Plans
Geography-Policy-2024-25
Geography Overview 2024
Geography Progression
Subject Leader/s
Miss Mussa
Impact
Geography teaches an understanding of places and environments. Here at Thurnby Mead Primary Academy, children learn about their local area, and they compare their life in this area, with that in other regions in the United Kingdom and in the rest of the world. They learn how to draw and interpret maps, and they develop the skills of research, investigation, analysis and problem-solving. Through their growing knowledge and understanding of human geography, children gain respect and an appreciation of life in other cultures. Geography teaching also motivates children to find out about the physical world and enables them to recognise the importance of sustainable development for the future of mankind.
In reception a huge part of the children’s learning is Understanding of the World. As part of their ‘Amazing Animals’ topic, the children in reception were inspired to build a jungle habitat.
Year 1 have been learning about the local area. The children have learnt all about what human and physical features are and went on a local area walk to discover these. The children have also been learning about different types of homes and understanding how and why they are different.
Year 2 have been looking at maps and learning about what ‘Birdseye View’ means. They had fun circling maps like birds and exploring the local area. Year 2 have also been using maps and globes to discover the different oceans and continents around the world.
When visiting Conkers discovery centre, Year 3 learnt about why it is important to reuse and recycle household items to help keep our environment healthy and safe. The children enjoyed the process of making recycled paper using mulch, a rolling pin and some newspaper!
In year 4 the children have been learning about the water cycle. They created their own diagrams of the water cycle on the iPads.
Year 5 have been learning about magnificent mountains. They have been learning to describe the key features of mountains and how they are formed. Here the children were using atlases and globes to find different mountains ranges around the world.
Our Year 6 children have been learning about the United Kingdom. They have been investigating the inter-dependency of humans with their environment by comparing the different countries of the UK; Identifying physical characteristics of the UK; understanding how people have affected the United Kingdom’s landscape and understanding the different types of energy sources used in the UK. The children worked to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy.
In our Speech and Language unit the children have been using world maps to locate the homes of different animals across the seven different continents of the world.
