GEOGRAPHY AT BRACKENBURY
We are Geographers
At Brackenbury Primary School, we aim for our children to have a curiosity and fascination of the world that will stay with them throughout their lives. We believe geography will foster our learners to have a global understanding of our world through the people and cultures that inhabit it.
Through their work in geography, children at Brackenbury will learn about their local area; developing a sense of belonging within our local community. Pupils explore and compare their life in Portslade with that in other regions in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. This enables them to build wider cultural and social awareness of both environments and the communities around them, becoming open-minded global citizens.
The curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable, throughout their time at school and beyond. We offer them the opportunity to use a variety of data, such as maps and statistics and IT where this serves to enhance their learning. Children take part in role-play, discussions and a wide variety of problem-solving activities. Wherever possible, we involve the children in ‘real-life’ geographical activities including local orienteering and debates involving our school’s use of energy and resources.
During each topic cycle, each teacher facilitates discussion around a Golden Question that drives the class' subject learning. At the end of each Geography lesson, the teacher will ask the class what they can add to their topic learning wall that may help them answer the Golden question moving forward. Over the term, this builds to support the children during both their lessons, with retrieval practice, and with their end of term assessment.
Here are some examples of our 'double page spreads' that answer our end of unit Golden Question. Each year group share their Golden Question double page spreads with their partner year group to develop their understanding of the subject and their oracy skills further.
KS1
What human features would you see if you flew across the continents of the world?
KS2
Is a plate boundary a suitable place to live?
Why should we save the rainforests?
Our Geography Knowledge Organisers identify the Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabularly children will need to confidently answer their assessment piece. Children are explicitly taught these chosen words across the topic sequence and encouraged to use them when discussing the Golden Question and discussing their learning with peers.
We talk like Geographers
Talk plays a vital role in helping children learn and understand geography. Through discussion, children can share ideas, ask questions and explain their thinking using the key geographical vocabulary from their Knowledge Organisers.
Speaking and listening in geography lessons helps pupils to develop confidence when describing places, comparing environments and exploring how people interact with the world around them.
Talk also helps to deepen understanding as children learn from each other’s experiences and viewpoints. Paired talk, group tasks and class debates all support pupils in building their knowledge of physical and human geography, while improving their communication skills.
By encouraging thoughtful talk in geography, we help children become curious, informed, and respectful global citizens.
To see the progression of skills, click HERE.