Geography 2024 - 2025

Park & Stride Scheme - Sefton Council & Sustrans

We are thrilled to announce that, after months of hard work, our Year 6 taskforce have created a Park and Stride scheme in partnership with Sefton Council and Sustrans. This was put into place after pupils reported that they did not feel safe walking to, or from, school due to the extreme congestion and illegal parking on Chesnut Grove. We are also very aware of near accidents and several complaints from local residents and parents.

Parents and carers will now able to park at Bootle Leisure Centre, term time, Monday – Friday, for free between the hours of 8.10am – 8.45am and 2.40pm -3.20 pm. You will then be able to walk the short distance to school together. If parents and carers are using the Park and Stride facility, they must accompany their child on the walk to school, there will not be staff monitoring or escorting children along the route.

As well as making our school journey safer and more enjoyable, there are many other benefits on pupils walking this short distance including:

• Improving children’s mood and mental health. Studies have shown that physical activity can help reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood, and boost self-esteem.
• Promote physical exercise. Walking to school can help children meet this recommendation and improve their overall health.
• Teaching road safety. Walking to school can help children learn about traffic rules, pedestrian safety, and the importance of paying attention to their surroundings.
• Social benefits - Walking with friends or neighbours can help children develop social skills, make new friends, and foster a sense of community. This can also be an opportunity for parents and children to spend quality time together.

Whilst we appreciate that not everybody is able to walk their entire journey, we hope that the creation of this Park and Stride scheme encourages those who are able to take these small steps to help our entire school community.

More information will be available on our school website, as well as the attached poster and video, created by our pupil task force.

There will be a school wide launch on Friday 7^th March. To celebrate the launch there will be staff and members of the Sustrans team meeting at 8.10am to walk together on this new journey. We would be thrilled to be joined by as many of our families as possible.

If you have any questions, please feel free to speak to a member of staff.

Link to Geography National Curriculum

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-geography-programmes-of-study

Purpose of study

A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip 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. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the framework and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

Aims

The national curriculum for geography aims 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 the actions 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 their understanding 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 quantitative skills and writing at length.