 At St. John's we place great emphasis on making Geography as engaging and relevant as possible. We take great pride in taking Geography out of the text book and into the realms of fieldwork and practical enquiry.
The children learn that Geography is more than 'just' a subject; it is the world in which they live. They look at local and global issues from many different perspectives. They examine the natural and human worlds and their impact on each
other. And they also learn that Geography is about them taking responsibility for their own actions in the world.
At. St. John's a planned programme of National Curriculum Geography is provided for every class. Each year group studies one major topic about a locality and one geographical theme. Apart from making use of the school's extensive grounds for honing geographical skills, every year group is encouraged to go on field trips outside the school. We have visited a water treatment plant and been amazed by the complexity of the
water purification process; we have been guided around a landfill site to learn what happens to waste after the bin men have taken it away and we have had a behind the scenes expose of how the BBC weather is made.
The educational value of field trips is supplemented by a number of visiting speakers who bring their own experiences to the school. Through workshops the children are shown the importance of being 'Waste Aware', as well as being given a taste of life in places like India and Mexico.
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