Edinburgh Academy
The local world
An understanding of the physical world and of places local and international is integrated into the learning experiences of children at the Junior School from the start. In Early Years it is very much the local world, that the children are familiar with, which forms the backdrop of their geographical exploration.
Our spacious grounds provide wonderful opportunities to develop mapwork skills in a practical setting as well as working on paper in the classroom.
New technology - including the recent addition of interactive whiteboards - is providing enormous scope for the vicarious experience of other places to bring real insights and deeper understanding.
Geography and literacy
By Upper Primary children have growing background knowledge and are developing independent habits of learning, so projects are a good way to proceed. In Primary 5 there is a substantial project on 'Cities' in general, culminating in a piece of research on a city of one's own choice.
The emphasis is on combining study skills with the use of technology to bring together information and present it in a lively and interesting way. This provides a great context for integrating literacy with geography in a way that ensures depth rather than superficiality.
Direct relevance
Bringing it homeIn Primary 6 the 'Rainforest' topic, the related work done in Science on bio-diversity and sustainability, enables pupils to engage with environmental issues in a deeper way.
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What it all means to usAs emerging citizens, they are learning - and helping the younger children to learn - that making a difference to global issues of sustainability and resource management can start with a child deciding what to do with his waste paper, her plastic cup or drinks can. Putting it into practiceThe bringing together of knowledge and understanding of the world 'out there' with practical initiatives for changing the world where we are is the culmination of 6 years of varied geographical exploration and a great preparation for the Senior School. |
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The understanding developed through looking at the problems on a global level is brought down to the level of immediate practicalities when the Primary 6 children engage in the Eco-Schools initiative. This project is designed to help everyone within the school to understand that the slogan 'Reduce, Re-use, Recycle' can be applied in the details of daily living at school.
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