Geography
Geography at Hawthorne
'Understanding the Earth, it's processes and the human impact upon it'
At Hawthorne Primary School, our children are at the heart of everything that we do. Our school values underpin all that we do, putting children at the heart of every decision:
Aspiration – Celebrating Diversity – Creativity – Confidence – Enjoyment – Honesty – Perseverance – Pride – Respect - Responsibility
Every day, we aim to live together harmoniously, laugh a lot and learn. We champion every child to have the knowledge, confidence, and aspiration to become the best version of themselves so that they can make a positive contribution in an ever-changing world.
Our curriculum is both knowledge rich and experiential, which has been carefully designed and developed, reflective of the needs and interests of all our children. Equipping our children with the skills which will support them on their next stage in education and the wider world.
Our principles are: REAL
R -Rich Vocabulary
E – Experiential
A – Aspiration
L – Life Skills
Rich Vocabulary
Through exposing our children to geographically rich subject specific vocabulary and through explicit teaching, our children learn to build, investigate and develop their technical vocabulary. Children will be taught to understand vocabulary in context and the meaning of it. They can then apply this to not just their geographical learning, but across the curriculum and within their wider reading and writing. As the children progress through the school, they will build upon the vocabulary that they have already been taught and deepen their understanding.
Experiential
Providing our children with 'real', hands on, investigative and purposeful learning opportunities enables them to experience different environments, which exposes them to the world outside of their local area. Through developing skills and fieldwork techniques, our children are provided with opportunities to explore the world where they live in new and different ways. Hands on experiences provide 'real' memories for children to refer back to in their future learning. This helps to develop their cultural capital and develops their learning beyond just the classroom.
Aspiration
Our children will hold high aspirations for themselves, and the local community. They will understand the importance of not giving up and demonstrate resilience when faced with difficulties; knowing the importance of striving for our goals. They will be prepared for the next stage of their journey and be equipped to make choices about their future aspirations. Through geography, children will learn about cultures and different places giving them knowledge of the world beyond their immediate area in order to be the best version of themselves in the wider world. We aim for our children to aspire to be global citizen thinking and caring about the world and people around them.
Life Skills
Through our geography curriculum our children learn life skills that will help to prepare them for life in modern Britain. Through our fieldwork and geographical skills lessons, children will learn how to use a range of different equipment such as atlases, compasses and aerial photographs in order to enhance their learning and knowledge of the wider world. This helps our children to be better prepared with skills to support them as they grow older.