At GEMS, we want our children to be confident Geographers. As well as developing their confidence and general knowledge, we encourage the learning of geographical skills so that they aspire to be conservationists, town planners, weather forecasters, cartographers and a range of other professions. Our aim is to provide a purposeful platform to enable our children to explore, appreciate and understand the world in which we live and how it has evolved over the years. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We aim to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We aim to promote the children’s’ interest in, and understanding of, diverse places, people and resources. We aim to show that an understanding of our natural and human environments together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes are the main facets of a successful geography curriculum.
At Godfrey Ermen, Geography is taught alternate half terms as a block. This is to allow children to develop their knowledge and skills in depth, to retain information and create lasting, meaningful learning about our world. Our Geography curriculum has been designed so that the children gain deeper knowledge of their local area, before learning more about the UK and the rest of the world. This pattern is replicated in all year groups.
Each year group studies three Geography themes a year. This has been rigorously planned so that pupils revisit and build on knowledge and skills across their time here at Godfrey Ermen. Each year group follows the model of a Local area study, then UK geography and finally a World geography study, working our way from our local context to the wider world.
In each unit of work we focus on the following three key geogrpahical concepts:
1. Locational & Place Knowledge
2. Human & Physical Geography
3. Geographical Skills & Fieldwork