Intent

At St Joseph's, we have chosen to follow the Kapow Geography scheme of work as it inspires pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer. We want pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings. Through the Kapow scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time. We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens of our community who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.

Our scheme encourages:

• A strong focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge.
• Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.
• The development of fieldwork skills across each year group.
• A deep interest and knowledge of pupils’ locality and how it differs from other areas of the world.
• A growing understanding of geographical terms and vocabulary.

Kapow Primary’s Geography scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum. The aims also align with those in the National curriculum.

Implementation

The National curriculum organises the Geography attainment targets under four strands:

• Locational knowledge
• Place knowledge
• Human and physical geography
• Geographical skills and fieldwork

Kapow Primary’s Geography scheme has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these four strands across each year group. The Progression of skills and knowledge shows the skills taught within each year group and how these develop to ensure that attainment targets are met by the end of each key stage.

The Kapow Primary scheme is a spiral curriculum, with essential knowledge and skills revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Locational knowledge, in particular, will be reviewed in each unit to consolidate children’s understanding of key concepts.

Fieldwork includes smaller opportunities on the school grounds to larger-scale visits to investigate physical and human features. Developing fieldwork skills within the school environment and revisiting them in multiple units enables pupils to consolidate their understanding of various methods. This makes fieldwork regular and accessible while giving children a thorough understanding of their locality, providing a solid foundation when comparing it with other places.

Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to deliver a highly effective and robust Geography curriculum. Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support the CPD of St Joseph's Staff. 

Impact

An enquiry-based approach to learning will allow teachers to assess children against the National curriculum expectations for Geography. The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities.

Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher, which can be used at the start or end of the unit to assess children’s understanding.