The National Curriculum (2014) states, “A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.” This statement provides the overarching aims for our geography curriculum at Dore Primary School. The National Curriculum also sets out the subject’s scope and content that will be studied in Key Stages 1 and 2. For the Foundation Stage, the Early Learning Goals similarly provide guidance to ensure children are developing their Understanding of the World.
We ensure that throughout the school each year group gives our children opportunities to learn about geography in a way that allows them to progress and become fluent in their geographical knowledge and skills. At Dore Primary School geography is taught though our topics which are chosen by each year group to give a focus to the learning each half term. We aim to make our curriculum relevant, current, creative, exciting and engaging. Lessons are planned to respond to current and important issues and are closely related to the real world making children’s learning purposeful and meaningful. Our geography curriculum is also explicitly linked to our whole school values and our social, moral, spiritual and cultural responsibilities.A link to a document setting out these connections is below.
In October we launched the ‘Our Wonderful World’ photography competition, to encourage children to use photography to show their sense of wonder and fascination about the physical and human world. Children submitted photographs they had taken themselves. The breadth of themes and the standard of photography were amazing and are now displayed in the Junior building promoting both geography and creativity.
At Dore Primary School our geography curriculum is also closely linked to our Global Dimension and Charity commitments as a Unicef Rights Respecting School and Fairtrade School, as well as our whole school focus on Outdoor Learning.
GEOGRAPHY – INTENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT STATEMENT:
Geography News:
- Y5 Castleton Visit
Y5 had a great trip out to Castleton last week. The children visited Peveril Castle and learnt about the history of the castle and how it was built in the wake of the Norman Conquest (when William the Conqueror came to the throne). The children were able to link this with their learning in relation […] - Schools Climate Emergency South Yorkshire Conference
Children from Dore Primary School took part in the 3rd South Yorkshire schools’ climate action conference in March. This important conference was very popular so only six places were available to us. Children were asked to send in their pitch, (either written or by video message) for why they should get a place. Mrs Simpson […] - Pre-School Fairtrade
As it’s Fairtrade Fortnight, on Monday we learned about where our food comes from and what it means if it is Fairtrade. We looked at the logo and explored the journey of a banana. We went in the hall and made the journey of a banana. The children were banana trees, chopped down, transported, put […] - Y2 – Local History and Geography
Today in Y2, the children have been studying the geographical changes in Dore since 1890. We identified that human features have changed the most, mainly the amount of houses built in the locality. We are creatively representing the changes we have discovered over time, as an aerial map. - Y3 – Science – Climate ChangeSome of the last learning Year 3 completed for their Pole to Pole topic was to understand climate change: What it is, How humans are causing it, The effects on the world’s biomes (espeically the polar region), What we can do about it. To do this, we: Used maps to understand what a geographical change […]
- Y5 Geography – Map Symbols
Y5 have continued their Out and About Learning Journey by learning about map symbols, how they are used to mark features on maps and how they can be useful for interpreting maps and for planning or following a route. The children began by looking at different maps and getting to grips with the Ordnance […] - FS2 – Walk in Dore Village
We had a slightly soggy but enjoyable morning being Geographers and having an explore of our local surroundings and visiting Dore Village to look and landuse and see what types of services were available there. We were impressed with how well the children behaved on the walk and how much they listened and observed about […] - Y4 Winter Walk
To end an excellent first term in Y4, we spent our penultimate day before the Christmas holiday undertaking a 10 kilometre walk from school, up to Totley Moss and Blacka Moor, then back to school. As you can see, the views were amazing as the sky was crystal clear, and we kept warm all day […] - Y4 Portal Stories
Y4 have spent a great deal of care, time and effort creating these amazing stories. First we read about different examples of ‘portal story’, including The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Phantom Tollbooth. We worked out that mostly portal stories start with someone who isn’t happy with their everyday life (just like […] - Y4 Natural Balms
Taking inspiration from stories of some of the people of the Amazon Rainforest, Y4 created a balm useful as a remedy for insect bites and stings from plantain (the grass not the fruit), olive oil and beeswax. We boiled the oil, then added the plantain and simmered for another 10 minutes, then we strained the […] - Y4 River Fieldwork
To tie in with our ‘Amazonian Adventure’, Y4 learned about the features of rivers, and how water flows through them. To embed the new vocabulary and test out some ideas (hypotheses) we had come up with, we visited Old Hay Brook on a Geography Field Trip. This involved lots of hands on, practical learning, but […] - Y4 Layers of the Rainforest
As part of our ‘Amazonian Adventure’ learning journey, we studied how the flora of the rainforest can be split into different layers: emergent, canopy, understorey and undergrowth/forest floor. To conslidate this learning, children spent an outdoor learning session trying to recreate scale models of the rainforest using scavenged items. - FS2 Mr Muddy Face
We met another of Mr Owl’s friends this week – Mr Muddy Face. He can be tricky to spot, but if you look really carefully then you might just see….clay for a face, acorns for eyes, feathers for ears and a big shiny brown conker for his nose…yep that’s him. Captivated by his presence, the […] - Y5 Castleton Residential – Wednesday
Wednesday was walk day. The air was cooler, but the skies were still clear. As you can see from the photos, the views from Mam Tor were amazing. The walk also took in Peveril Castle, as part of our ‘Who Do We Think We Are? The Normans’ learning journey. - Y5 Castleton Residential – Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, while some children went for a stroll and a paddle down Miller’s Dale, others completed the High Ropes challenges and obstacle course on site. In the afternoon some groups went caving, while others did the High Ropes then had a dip in the pond! Tuesday finished off with a toasted marshmallow around […] - Year 3 Summer Walk and Outdoor Art
Year 3 had a super day with a walk to Blacka Moor in the morning and creating outdoor art in the afternoon. It allowed us to put into practice some of the learning from our ‘How does your garden grow?’ learning journey; we gathered natural materils for both the art and future science lessons. It […] - Out and About with Y5
Y5 trekked out into the wilderness this week, on our Spring Walk. This adventurous hike into the wilds was supposed to conclude our “Out and About” learning journey, but our previous date had to be cancelled due to the weather becoming too extreme even for hardy Y5 pupils. The children followed a route around the […] - Y5 Finish Their Journey “Out and About”
Y5 have just concluded their Learning Journey for the half term. Called “Out and About” this journey focuses on the geographical knowledge and skills required to interpret maps and understand the world around us. Check out our Celebration Assembly to learn more. - Fair Trade Fortnight
- Y1 – Signs of spring
During our outdoor learning today, we looked for signs of Spring. We spotted crocuses, daffodil shoots and some snowdrops! Shame the weather was so wet! We then sketched some of these early signs of Spring – don’t they look great!