Never before in human history has the role of Geography been so pivotal in shaping the direction of the future. Our world is changing at an unprecedented rate, and the opportunities on offer to our young people because of this are exponentially growing. At Callington Community College, our Geography Team is therefore dedicated to developing young people to become critically thinking 21st century global citizens. It is our shared goal to inspire your children to build the knowledge, resilience and enthusiasm necessary to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world. Unquestionably, the attitudes and actions of those who have a passion for Geography will inevitably drive positive change for our communities across the planet, and it is these very attitudes and actions that will ultimately define our collective futures.
At Callington Community College, we aim to achieve our vision through 4 key elements in every classroom:
- All students learn in an inclusive environment that sets high expectations for behaviour and learning.
- To offer a continuously developing curriculum which carefully balances physical and human Geography that encourages children to form increasingly complex links between both. Our students will develop powerful knowledge through a carefully sequenced curriculum with key geographical concepts at its core, such as place, space and scale.
- To support all young people to become 21st century global citizens who develop a passion to question, challenge and understand their place in a rapidly changing world.
- To inspire children at Callington with enthusiasm that stretches beyond the classroom by furthering their learning and experiences of Geography
By the end of their education in Geography at Callington Community College, all students of Geography will have:
- Developed a critical understanding of the world and how we interact with that world so that they can make responsible and rational decisions as citizens.
- An awareness of key geographical concepts in order to understand the links between human, physical and environmental Geography.
- The ability to ‘see, speak, think, write, like a geographer’ .
- Enhanced their Cultural capital to promote social equity and mobility.
- An appreciation that geography is complex and dynamic, reflecting our changing world.
In order to fully appreciate Geography and develop a deep schema, topics in Geography have been intelligently sequenced by the following rationale:
The Geography curriculum has been underpinned with the 3 core concepts of Place, Space and Scale. Supporting these core concepts, topics have been bound together with the wider concepts: Processes, Patterns, systems, interactions, sustainability and perspectives, and values.
Callington Community College's Geography curriculum has been influenced by Mark Enser and Alaric Maude’s research on Powerful Geographical Knowledge, ensuring students are provided with a well-considered, powerful curriculum developing rich geographical knowledge, understanding, and skills.
The geography curriculum has been designed with the guidance by the Geographical Associations progression framework, supported by Eleanor Rawling and David Gardner research on planning a Coherent Geography curriculum. Within Callington Community Colleges geography curriculum three progression strands underpin each key stage:
- Contextual world knowledge of locations, places, and geographical features- Demonstrating greater fluency with world knowledge by drawing on increased breadth and depth of content and contexts.
- Understanding of the conditions, processes, and interactions. - Extending from the familiar and concrete to the unfamiliar and abstract.
- Geographical enquiry and application of skills - Increasing the range and accuracy of pupils - investigative skills and their ability to apply these with increasing independence to geographical enquiry.
Modules have been sequenced in a deliberate way, so knowledge is built over time. There has been a balance of thematic and regional modules to ensure that content is interweaved, knowledge is rich, and understanding is deepened.
Our Geography curriculum addresses disadvantage through teaching a curriculum where all students have access to Powerful Geographical Knowledge, where all young people can develop their knowledge, skills and understanding necessary to interrogate what they read, see and hear. Within our geography curriculum, our classrooms are inclusive where we engage students with Geography content, linking to their personal experience to make it more meaningful for them. We strive to ensure that our fieldwork is inclusive to all, allowing students to gain the opportunities to experience different environments.