Intent 

At Roman Hill Primary School we aim to provide a high-quality geography education that inspires pupils to have a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching will equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with an understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. 

As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world will help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.  Alongside teaching geographical knowledge, the curriculum is shaped to develop skills that encourage pupils to think like a geographer. 

Implementation 

At Roman Hill Primary School we follow the National Curriculum, following the CUSP curriculum. The CUSP curriculum ensures knowledge is frequently retrieved and built on, with all pupils retaining knowledge in order to successfully progress to the next year group and beyond. The Cusp curriculum is designed to support working memory and cognitive load theory, giving the pupils the best possible opportunities to retain the information.  

Across the key stages, strands of: locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, geographical skills and fieldwork are woven into the units and learning questions, with pupils discovering new knowledge about the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. Each unit builds on prior learning, extending their knowledge and applying it to new contexts and regions. This begins in Early Years, with pupils being encouraged to explore and make sense of their physical world and their community. Vocabulary is at the heart of our curriculum with vocabulary units supporting the acquisition and retention of tier two and tier three words, supporting the understanding and retention of knowledge from each unit. The curriculum is designed to not only increase the geographical knowledge of our pupils, but develop skills in asking questions, planning and conducting fieldwork, collecting and analysing data and drawing conclusions. 

For pupils with SEND the curriculum is adapted to meet their individual needs. Scaffolding offers small-step support for pupils that prompts their thinking to allow them to access the next step in learning. This could include, but is not limited to: visual resources, questioning, modelled examples, group work, adult intervention, mixed-attainment partners. Knowledge notes and organizers are used to support learning and retention with prompts to support cognitive load and working memory. 

Impact 

As a result of our Geography teaching pupils leave Roman Hill with a curiosity about the world around them and a secure knowledge base to transition them onto their next stage of education. They can ask geographical questions, carry out fieldwork and identify similarities and differences between their local environment and other localities around the world.  

Assessment, conducted through a combination of teacher assessment, cumulative quizzing and self and peer assessment, informs the next steps in learning and allows teachers to identify gaps in knowledge as appropriate before the next stage in the pupils’ learning.