During this difficult year your KS2 children are preparing to move onto their KS3 geography at secondary school, can you be sure that they are well enough prepared to meet the demands of their new geography?
In many primary schools geography has been something of a Cinderella subject with planning and teaching sometimes lacking.
The disruption of the primary education because of the Coronavirus pandemic has just added to the difficulties of delivering a coherent geography curriculum. For a successful transition from primary to secondary there are twin demands. The first is that the primary school has properly and thoroughly prepared their children. At the same time the secondary school must be ready and prepared to receive them.
Teachers of primary geography and geography subject leads are responsible for ensuring that their charges are geography ready. This means that they have had “a high-quality geography education which has inspired in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching will have equipped pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.”
That’s why we’ve developed a brand new set of resources to provide all the geography Year 6 pupils need to know in preparation for Year 7 geography.
We wanted to create something practical that teachers could use to help set work for the last few weeks of term, or as a key planning tool for the new Year 6 classes they will be teaching in the 2020-2021 academic year.
Be Geography Ready is all about giving Year 6 children the tools and knowledge to prepare for secondary school.
The new Year 6 unit will allow teachers to confirm that children are equipped with the primary geography skills and knowledge needed for success in their KS3 Geography.
The video explains a little bit more:
And you can find full details of what’s included on the Be Geography Ready Key on our shop page
We're also delighted to have received this teacher feedback about the unit:
"We’re really looking forward to using the ‘Be Geography Ready’ unit with our Year 6 pupils. Having worked with B&C Educational before we are sure that the pitch and flexibility of the planning and supporting materials will provide a framework for us that will enable us to review and consolidate the geographical knowledge and skills of our pupils through a range of appropriate activities which will help prepare them for KS3.
The interesting content appeals to us for a number of reasons including the match to national curriculum requirements as well as a focus on locational knowledge being developed through the knowledge of human and physical geography alongside the opportunity to embed geographical skills. We are also sure that our teachers will appreciate the teacher guidance contained within the unit."
Dan Wild, Deputy Head Teacher, Monkspath Junior and Infant School
"Wow! Finally someone is out there thinking about transition from a subject-perspective. This is crucial for our Y6 children to have the appropriate knowledge and skills to prepare them for learning in the secondary school. This also means that secondary teachers can be confident that children are coming with an excellent foundation and have a clear starting point. We are really looking forward to sharing this unit with our Y6 children. Thank you B & C for being inspiring ...again!'
Natalie Carry, Deputy Head, St Edward's Catholic Primary School
If there is one piece of advice…………….
Whether you have a passion for geography, have volunteered to lead it, or have been given it by default, the one piece of advice we would give to anyone new to the subject or revising their planning at this time, is to get your staff to read the National Curriculum. That sounds obvious, but often, because geography has been a low priority, many schools have found that some teachers merely skim over the POS and veer towards key words with which they are comfortable teaching. Do people know the differences between small area (KS1) and region (KS2)? and then there is the Surrounding Environment (KS1) and the Local Area (KS2). Are your children competent in map skills including Geographic Information Systems? Often geography is a subject that only has a limited time slot, approximately six hours a half term. Our advice would be that those six hours have to be perfectly pitched lessons.
So simply put, read exactly what the national Curriculum says, understand the geography and stick to it.
If you have any feedback or have any questions around Be Geography Ready or your geography provision please do get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you and would be happy to help.
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