INNOVATE . FOCUS . ACHIEVE
At Boldon School, all aspects of the school ethos, ‘Innovate, Focus and Achieve’ are underpinned across each subject area. In English, we strive to embed these principles within our curriculum:
Innovate: To create innovative and progressive schemes of work which are well-sequenced to ensure excellent student outcomes.
Focus: A clear drive and focus key threads for reading, writing and spoken language;
A relentless drive to sharpen key knowledge concepts and ensure understanding of portable themes.
To ensure that all lessons widen the scope and appreciation of grammar, vocabulary and subject content.
Achieve: The aim is to ensure proficiency in reading, writing and oracy; this is key to social mobility. Our robust curriculum is designed to build strong foundations in knowledge and understanding which lead to academic and personal success. We want our students to enjoy the subject, and be inspired to be innovative in their responses, to focus on skill acquisition and implementation and, ultimately, to achieve their true potential. Students will be well-skilled to succeed in their next steps, whether it be education, further training or the world of employment.
Each of our curriculum areas are carefully designed with the students at the heart of our thinking. The intent is for the framework for each programme of study in the National Curriculum to be well planned and sequenced to enable all students to build their knowledge and skills towards the agreed end points at each key stage. We consider how this is taught in order to support our students and ensure this is implemented effectively. For the desired impact to be reflected in the outcomes that students achieve through the education they have received.
This is embedded across each subject area: Geography
Intent:
In geography at Boldon, the curriculum has been planned to support our students in embedding the knowledge, understanding and skills required for progression. Our curriculum is sequenced so students explore a range of physical, human and place based studies during key stage three and are able to develop and apply their understanding through retrieval and interleaving of content and geographical concepts, including effects and response, processes of change and sustainability, throughout key stage 3 and into key stage 4.
Our curriculum is divided into Key Stage 3 (years 7, 8 and 9) and Key Stage 4 (10 and 11). The content delivered and skills developed in each key stage are informed by the National Curriculum and the requirements of AQA, our awarding body for GCSE Geography at Key Stage 4. Lessons have clear objectives and students are supported and challenged linked to individual needs; literacy is a key focus in all lessons. Students leave our lessons with new and developing knowledge, understanding and skills that will be revisited and applied in future contexts.
British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect of those with different faiths and beliefs are taught and reinforced in Geography, as is our responsibility for sustainability as custodians of Earth. In addition to explicit geographical skills, transferable key skills linked to literacy, numeracy, fieldwork, enquiry, use of evidence, data analysis, evaluation, problem solving and collaboration support students across subjects during their journey through Boldon School and, through making links with careers, help prepare them for their next steps and future success.
Implementation:
Collaborative planning and regular evaluation of lessons and their sequence and resourcing ensure a consistent and purposeful experience for all students in Geography at Boldon.
Lessons are centrally planned with an agreed structure and shared on Google Drive. Lessons include activities designed to promote regular retrieval of knowledge to promote recall, application of new understanding and opportunities to embed geographical skills. Our sequencing of topics during years 7-11 allows for interleaving with through alternating physical and human topics as well as those focusing on contrasting places, such as the United Kingdom, China, The Middle East, Russia and India. Regular recall activities in lessons, for homework and as part of summative assessments enable revisiting of learning and promote retrieval. Differentiation within lessons is designed to support and challenge all students and is focused around high expectations for success whilst metacognition is employed to deepen thinking and promote retention of knowledge and understanding in long-term memory.
Students knowledge and understanding is continually assessed though a variety of strategies in lessons including low stakes recall, targeted and whole class questioning as well as review activities. Students complete key ‘quality mark’ activities where they are supported with increasingly high order questions (from describe to explain to discuss and assess and evaluate) where staff provide specific and individualised feedback to support them in making progress. During Key Stage3, student become familiar with these questions, including their structures and model answers, in preparation for studying GCSE Geography. In addition, students complete summative assessments designed to check recent and less previous content and for GCSE students these take the form of past AQA exam papers. The geography teaching team are confident and competent in marking and feedback following experience as marking for the AQA exam board and through completion of relevant, up-to-date CPD, which enables robust monitoring and moderation of student work as well as effective feedback and planning of opportunities to close gaps in learning, tackle misconceptions and maximise progress.
Staff regularly collaborate to review lessons and plan resources to support and engage students in lessons as well as with homework and remote learning. Opportunities for both internal and external professional development are exploited in this continual process. This is of particular importance linked to the high expectancies of geographical applications focusing on issue evaluation and fieldwork, both of which are major features of our current curriculum development alongside contemporary strategies for delivery of geography, such as factfulness.
Impact:
Examination results analysis and evaluation of results is carried out following Summer GCSE Geography exams. Feedback from AQA based on how students performed nationally is also used to evaluate our approaches to teaching and learning in order to best support students in future success. This links to continual evaluation of our curriculum to ensure we can support students in maximising their progress in geography from year 7. The requirements of AQA GCSE Geography are increasingly being included into Key Stage 3 to support the National Curriculum, including elements linked to Geographical Applications. Geography information for Year 9 options has been reviewed to ensure students and parents have the advice and guidance concerning AQA GCSE Geography and the potential futures in higher education and careers the subject could support.
Moderation and planning meetings are held following key assessments and quality mark tasks in order to analyse progress and inform interventions and curriculum development. This is also used to quality assure data entry and increase reliability of predictions at GCSE level, supported by a whole faculty tracking system. Lesson observations, learning walks and work scrutiny are integral as part of our monitoring progress in our drive to effect progress for all of our students; focus on specific groups of students is key within this process. Our monitoring process links to faculty and whole school priorities and is blended alongside SLT monitoring and whole school data collection to increase impact and reduce work load. In addition, the process of
Regular feedback from students, parents and staff feeds into faculty meetings and monitoring which is again used to direct curriculum development. In addition, the process of providing feedback to students and parents has become more robust and consisting through our assessment, data entry, tracking and reporting procedures, ensuring parents and students receive timely feedback on progress in Geography at Boldon School.