The aim of our Geography curriculum is to... inspire ‘curiosity and fascination’ with the world. 

Within our Geography curriculum pupils learn about: diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, they deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.

Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Knowledge pupils will gain:

• contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – including their physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
• understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time

Skills pupils will develop:

• collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
• interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length

At St Joseph’s we have enriched the National Curriculum content by: 

• taking advantage of our excellent coastal location; fieldwork, especially at the beach, is widely incorporated into our geography curriculum
• Geography is taught through thematic topics to enhance engagement, to make learning purposeful and to enhance development of links across learning
• Embedding global-learning across the geography and wider curriculum.  As a small-school with a predominately white-British intake (78%), coastal community, we additionally wanted the children to enquire- is everywhere like this?
• Making good use of technology including ‘Digi-maps’

Geography in the Early Years

The EYFS framework is one that is designed to be flexible, holistic and to meet the developing needs of young children at this vital stage of their development. The curriculum aims to offer children a range of opportunities and experiences to flourish, as indicated by the seven areas of learning, and in these early years, geography is part of the area of learning called Understanding the World: it does not appear as a separate and distinct subject until pupils begin to follow the National Curriculum in England in year one. However, in the EYFS curriculum, geography not only has a distinct and cohesive role to play in Understanding the World, but also offers contextual relevance across other areas of learning too. The flexibility of the subject in being able to contribute to other areas is due partly to the intended holistic nature of the EYFS framework, and, because geography is an active subject that itself takes a holistic view of the world, and employs a wide range of skills and approaches in developing its own key concepts.

Global Learning at St Joseph's...

Why is global learning important to us?

Part of our mission as Catholic educators is a desire for our pupils to be 'witnesses to the world' and use 'global learning' as a vehicle for this!  We know that our school is located in a town with an International Port, our pupils are curious to know, 'is everywhere like Harwich?'  what better way to find out than through 'global learning'!

We believe 'global learning' can have an incredibly positive impact on a pupil’s engagement, knowledge, values, and skills.  We link our thematic topics to UN develop goals to explore global learning issues and we additionally explore global learning through our uniquely developed SMILE curriculum.

The benefits of global learning for pupils

• Pupils will become more engaged in their lessons when learning geography and related subjects.
• Pupils will improve their critical thinking skills and develop in depth knowledge and understanding of the curriculum.
• Pupils will gain a better understanding of global issues like inequality and poverty and be able to explore Catholic social teaching in action
• Pupils will have the opportunity to take part in discussions and develop their knowledge of global problems
• Global learning allows children to understand their role in the world and their impact on society.