Geography
At Hawkinge Primary School we encourage the development of responsible global citizens who care for and respect their environment. They are inquisitive about and understand the importance of the impact they have on the ever-changing world around them.
Click here for our Geography Curriculum Overview
Click here to read our Progression of Skills and Knowledge in Geography document
Click here to read our Long Term Planning Document for Geography
Click here to read our Progression of Skills for fieldwork document
At our school it is important to us that the children have the opportunity to take part in a variety of geographical activities both inside and outside the school. These activities include reading, drawing and making maps; using different computing programmes; and taking part in fieldwork both within the school grounds and while out on school trips. Our after school Geography Club also provides children with the opportunity to learn more and get more involved with geographical extra-curricular activities.
At Hawkinge Primary School, we believe in a cross-curricular approach to our Geography lessons and these are taught through a theme which links to other subject areas. We also aim to be responsive to issues and events across the globe. In recent years we have had themes covering topics from rivers through to global warming and climate change. Beginning our themes with a thought provoking question inspires the children to want to know and find out more.
To enhance the children’s learning, we regularly encourage visits from different organisations as well as from the family and friends of the school. These visits have included talks from a marine biologist, as well as a variety of different music workshops linked to countries being studied. The use of ICT in the classrooms also enables our children to complete their own research on places they are learning about; use photos, videos and games to enhance their learning; and create their own maps through use of a different media.
We also encourage the children to think more about the importance of looking after their environment, recycling and sustainability. The introduction of paper recycling bins across the school has been a great success. The children are very pro-active and think carefully about which bin they should use for their rubbish. Each week, the ‘Green Guardians’ from year 6 are responsible for collecting paper from the recycling bins and ensuring that the bins are used correctly across the school.
Our Science programme and cookery room also provide further opportunities for children to think about sustainability as they are able to grow, take care of, and cook with different fruits and vegetables as part of our Farm to Fork program. The ‘Green Guardians’ also play a part in helping to facilitate this.
It is really important to us that our pupils enjoy Geography and are enthusiastic about their learning. Below are some quotes from the children about what they enjoy:
“I really enjoy geography because it lets people know about the environment around them.” (A year 4 child)
“I like researching places around the world and learning about new countries.” (A year 5 child)
“I love learning about different human and physical features and comparing where we live to other places around the world.” (A year 5 child)
“I like linking geography and history together.” (A year 6 child)
“At the beginning of the term, I think it’s really good when we use maps and atlases to find the places we are learning about.” (A year 3 child)
“Looking down at a map from a bird’s eye view is really cool. Then I can draw my own map like that, too.” (A year 1 child)