Policy for Geography at Norfolk Park School

December 2004

Aims

For all children to:

• Explore and increase their awareness of familiar environments local to their home, and school, including carrying out simple geographical enquiry both inside and outside the classroom.
  
• Develop their sense of place through exploration of physical and human features of their immediate surroundings

• Develop an understanding of places further afield through experiences and activities related to comparing different places and cultures

How we plan to teach geography

• The programme of study for geography has been designed to take into account:

• The National curriculum

• QCA curriculum guidelines for pupils attaining significantly below age related expectations

• Equals programmes of study (SLD and PMLD)

• The geography syllabus has been split into 3 parts:
• This relates to knowledge, skills and understanding and explores a progression of environments and is ongoing throughout the year
• This relates to a particular geographical theme, which is the focus of a terms work
• Once a year, the whole school will partake in a mini geographical topic related to studying different countries around the world

•  Each class teacher is provided with a folder containing the whole school overview for geography and additional support materials to meet individual learning needs more closely, if required

Strategies for pupil learning

• Pupils will be encouraged to take an active part in lessons. Varying degrees of support will be given by adults to give them opportunities to engage in the lessons.

• Pupils will be encouraged to take an active part in exploring and finding their way around their immediate locality and further afield through the use of sensory labels, objects of reference, symbols, signs and geographical vocabulary. This will take place wherever possible during the school day

Assessment, Recording and Reporting

• Notable progress is recorded in PRAE files, or reported during weekly assemblies . Simple evidence of the work which children have produced or engaged in, is either kept or photographed
• Video evidence is taken of any whole school events
• Reporting takes place twice a year at parents evenings and once in end of year reports

Arrangements for monitoring by subject co-ordinator

• All classes have copies of the school's geography programme of study
• Schemes of work for each study unit are required from teachers
• Periodically, time is allocated to the geography co-ordinator to monitor delivery of the geography curriculum through classroom observation
• Evidence is collected and stored by the geography co-ordinator

Resources

• A variable annual budget is allocated to the geography co-ordinator, who is responsible for the purchase and upkeep of geography resources