Geography at Hawthorn
At Hawthorn, we believe that Geography helps to provoke questions and provide answers about the natural and human aspects of the world. Our curriculum is designed to provide our children with the subject specific language they need to describe, question and discuss the world.
We aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We will encourage children to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world around them, as well as their place in it.
Geography Lessons:
At Hawthorn, Geography is taught in blocks throughout the year so that children can achieve depth in their learning. We have identified the key knowledge and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across the whole school. Each topic includes an enquiry question and a fieldwork enquiry for children to investigate and answer.
The children in Early Years start their journey within geography by learning about the amazing world around them. They learn about the weather, seasonal changes, differences between the beaches, towns and the countryside. We do this by utilising our school grounds, local area and take the children on field trips as well as share a large range of stories to enhance their knowledge and understanding.
In KS1 our Geography curriculum is designed to start with children’s immediate locality and gradually move outwards, including looking at the UK and a contrasting country. Our Year 2 class make links with a school in Zimbabwe and compare similarities and differences.
In KS2 children build on these fundamental ideas to study specific regions and countries in depth from the UK, Europe, the Americas and Africa. They also learn about big geographical ideas that transcend places including food production, settlement & urbanisation, biomes, latitude, longitude, water & rivers, natural disasters, sustainability and climate change.