Geography
Our aim in the Geography department is make students aware of their place in the world and how they interact with its constituents; from the local level looking at, for example, regeneration in Thamesmead to global issues such as climate change, migration and global population growth.
We continually update our lessons to use current and relevant case studies that make lessons topical, challenging and engaging.
The world in which we live is likely to change more in the next 50 years than it has ever done before. Our role in that change is more important than ever. Geography explains the changes and helps to prepare people. It is a subject about now and the future. As well as being a study of where places are and what they are like, the subject studies how and why they are changing and at what rate the change is taking place.
For further details of the Geography curriculum please contact Ebere Emezie e.emezie@harrisgarrard.org.uk
Full details of the intent, implementation and impact of our Geography curriculum are contained in our curriculum plans, downloadable from the bottom of the page.
View/download medium term plans for all subjects. These are up to date as of 1st September 2021. Plans will be refreshed every term.
You can also download Knowledge Organisers for each year group from our Knowledge Organisers page.
Primary Curriculum - Geography
“You can travel the seas, poles and deserts and see nothing. To really understand the world, you need to get under the skin of the people and places. In other words, learn about geography. I can’t imagine a subject more relevant in schools. We’d all be lost without it.” Michael Palin.
Geography is an exciting subject that through geographical enquiry helps us better understand the people, places and environments in the world. The programme of study for Geography states “a high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives”.
It is a subject that seeks answers to fundamental questions such as:
- Where is this place?
- What is it like? (and why?)
- How and why is it changing?
- How does this place compare with other places?
- How and why are places connected?
Geography draws on its vast range of vocabulary to identify and name places, the features within them and the human and physical processes at work there. Such core knowledge provides the building blocks of deeper explanation and understanding; providing entry points to geographical conversations about the world. We describe this as ‘thinking geographically’ and explicitly teach this to our pupils through our use of knowledge organisers.
We aim that every pupil leaves our primary with the key building blocks to allow them to read, speak and write like a geographer.
Miss Anderson, AAP & Primary Geography Lead
Careers
Geographers are trained to be good decision-makers who look at all aspects of a situation. Some jobs make direct use of geographical knowledge such as those in tourism, town planning and environmental management and teaching.
Geographers can
- make a concise report
- handle data
- ask questions and find answers
- make decisions about an issue
- analyse material
- organise themselves
- think creatively and independently
Geographers are:
- good communicators
- spatially aware
- socially, economically and environmentally aware
- problem solvers
- good team players
- computer literate
- well rounded, flexible thinkers
Possible careers for Geographers include:
- Town Planning
- Social Work
- Market researh
- Housing
- Estate agents
- Disaster management
- Civil engineering
Geography is also useful for law, journalism, medicine and working in the media for example because it combines the understanding of the facts of the sciences with the perception of the arts.
Find out more about the careers programme at Harris Garrard Academy.
