Geography
HTPS’s geography curriculum is ambitious and adapted for our pupils within the context of our school. We are surrounded by fantastical surroundings, and we aim to embed this in our curriculum.
It is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively providing the necessary knowledge and skills for the pupils’ future to empower them to take their role as informed and active citizens in the 21st century. Its emphasis is not just on geographical knowledge but also skills and concepts and it has the same challenging academic ambitions for all pupils. Children all work from a shared starting point to answer the same key enquiry questions.
Geography is dynamic, and work should be active and visual, not dependent on reading and writing. Visual literacy is important; it has been referred to as ‘graphicacy’, the fourth ‘ace’ in the pack, along with literacy, oracy and numeracy. Graphicacy is the pictorial communication of spatial information. It is a life skill needed to understand maps, diagrams (such as flat-pack furniture assembly, car maintenance, electrical wiring and plumbing) and photographs (such as choosing a holiday destination or clothing from a catalogue) that features too little in the primary curriculum.
Overall, our curriculum aims to provide children with both geographical knowledge and transferable geographical skills which prepare them for the future and allow them to know that there is life “Beyond Weymouth and Portland!”
Key Curriculum Documents