A Bunbury Geographer
Bunbury ‘Geographers’ let their light shine brightly.....
At the heart of everything is a personalised approach to each unique individual as part of our Christian Community. The strong family ethos ensures that all children and staff feel valued, respected and grow in self-confidence. Enthusiastic and caring staff with high expectations, demonstrate care of the whole child. Through God’s guidance we encourage each and every child to let their light shine.
Article 29: Children’s education should develop each child’s personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. It should encourage children to respect others, human rights and their own and other cultures. It should also help them learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
The curriculum at Bunbury is constructed in order to provide systems of learning and lived experiences that enable the pupils at our school to develop and grow as learners, empowering all children to fulfil the school’s motto: ‘Let Your Light Shine’. The curriculum is focused on growing the whole person, through a broad range of subjects and wider opportunities. Its intent is to empower pupils in learning; to facilitate efficient acquisition of knowledge and to provide clear steps for progression and to develop a rich cultural capital. Through high-quality texts, resources and experiences, it aims to inspire our pupils to develop inquiring minds and to have a world view that is full of hope, with a knowledge of the love of Jesus. The curriculum meets the needs of all our children through a loving, nurturing environment, rich in social, spiritual and moral learning. It equips our pupils with the tools that will enable them to succeed in academic, professional and personal contexts throughout their lives
Our Curriculum Policy details our intent behind our curriculum, how we implement it and our desired impact. At RCSAT, the school curriculum consists of all those activities designed or encouraged within its organisational framework to provide the intellectual, emotional, personal, social, spiritual and physical development of all its pupils. It includes not only the subject specific curriculum but also the ‘informal’ programme of enrichment and extra-curricular activities.
The curriculum at RCSAT, is firmly rooted in and stems directly from our Vision, Mission and Core Values;
Our Vision – ‘Let your Light shine’ Matthew v5:16
Our Mission – ‘A Caring Christian Family Where We Grow Together’
Our Core Values –
WE aim to create an enjoyable, inclusive, safe and nurturing environment that allows all children to develop spiritually, morally and socially.
– every child is a child of God, made to contribute to our world.
WE aim to create an inspiring environment, which encourages enthusiasm for lifelong learning and establishes an expectation of high standards.
– knowing the way, showing the way and going the way.
WE aim to encourage caring, sensitive and inclusive attitudes where individuals feel secure, valued and respected by others.
– like Jesus showed us through his teachings
WE aim to provide a broad and connected curriculum which challenges and develops the potential of each child.
– as Jesus needed his disciples to support and guide, so we look to others with more knowledge
WE aim to develop a positive relationship between home, school and our wider community
- as a family – as brothers and sisters
As geographers, we 'Let our lights shine' by encountering different societies and cultures. This helps us realise how nations rely on each other. It inspires us to think about our own place in the world, our values, and our rights and responsibilities to other people and the environment.
Through our Geography curriculum, we intend to ignite a sense of curiosity and wonder regarding the world and its inhabitants, which lasts throughout pupils’ lives. We aim to impart comprehensive knowledge of places, individuals, resources, and natural and man-made environments; and want children to leave school with a deep understanding of the physical and human processes that take place on Earth. As pupils move through school, their ever-growing knowledge ofplanet Earth should enable them to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between physical and human processes, as well how landscapes and environments are formed and change over time. Pupils understanding of geographical knowledge and skills are underpinned by tangible learning experiences, with Geographical fieldwork underpinning questioning, learning and enquiry.
Through our study of Geography, we aim to ensure that all pupils:
- develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding theactions of processes
- understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
- are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
- collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen theirunderstanding of geographical processes
- interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitativeskills and writing at length
Curriculum structure & sequencing
The Geography curriculum is structured so that the youngest children learn about their immediate environment before rippling out gradually each year finally ending in Year 6 learning about the world in which we live. We embed skills and lines of enquiry to allow children to find answers themselves and be wowed by our world.
Content & concepts
At Bunbury Aldersey we plan a bespoke Geography curriculum. Staff plan lessons to make learning interactive, meaningful allowing children to develop their critical thinking skills. Each lesson is designed to build on a child’s prior knowledge and deepen understanding of concepts that have been taught. We categorise the skills to be taught under the following concepts: geographical enquiry, understanding, oracy and representation.
Enrichment and personal development:
We believe Geography is at its most engaging when it is brought to life and meaningful to children. Content isplanned to meet the requirements set out in the National Curriculum. Study is supplemented through engagingeducational visits, visits from Geography experts; alongside immersive and innovative digital resources.
Assessment and next steps
We assess Geography in a variety of ways, giving pupils the opportunity to explain their reasoning and metacognition ofa topic as well as their accumulation of knowledge. This may be done through practical exercises, group tasks, quizzes or discussion. We value developing Geographical oracy and place great emphasis on children being able to explain how,where and why; understanding the study and application of Geographical skills will serve our pupils well in their future studies across the wider curriculum.
The geography curriculum at Bunbury has been tailored to ensure that children understand and develop a rich curiosity of the world and its people. Throughout our high-quality teaching and our connected curriculum, pupils at Bunbury are equipped with the knowledge and understanding that they can use throughout the rest of their life. The connected curriculum allows for a broader, deeper understanding of the four areas of geography. It develops background knowledge of globally significant places and an understanding of the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, along with how they bring about variation and change over time. We intend to develop children’s curiosity and a fascination of the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. The units we teach offer a range of opportunities for investigating places around the world as well as physical and human processes. The lessons are intended to improve children’s geographical vocabulary, map skills and geographical facts and provide opportunities for consolidation, challenge and variety to ensure interest and progress in the subject.
We have identified a set of key geographical concepts or ‘golden threads’, that children will repeatedly revisit throughout their time at Bunbury Aldersey. Our golden threads are:
- Location
- Climate
- Physical
- Human
Each unit will not include every 'thread', but over a year, children will visit each one more than once.
