Geography

Our geography curriculum is based around our core values:  Successful Happy Included Nurtured Enriched and follows the National Curriculum guidance for Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Geography is a subject packed with excitement and a study of the world. It helps us to better understand its people, places and environments, and the interactions between them. Geography also helps us understand how and why places are changing, and to better imagine, predict and work towards, likely and preferred futures. Underpinning all of this deepens our understanding of what places are like, why and how they are connected, and the importance of location.

Geography is an enquiry led subject that seeks answers to fundamental questions such as: 

• Where is this place?
• What is it like? (And why?)
• How and why is it changing?
• How does this place compare with other places?
• How and why are places connected?

It is also imperative that a geographer doesn’t just answer questions but also asks and debates them:

• What could/should the world be like in the future?
• What can we do to influence change?

The aims of teaching Geography are:

Geography teaches an understanding of places and environments. Through their work in geography, children learn about their local area and compare their life in this area with that in other regions in the United Kingdom and in the rest of the world. They learn how to draw and interpret maps and they develop the skills of research, investigation, analysis and problem-solving. Through their growing knowledge and understanding of human geography, children gain an appreciation of life in other cultures. Geography teaching also motivates children to find out about the physical world and enables them to recognise the importance of sustainable development for the future of mankind.

The aims of geography are to:

• enable children to gain knowledge and understanding of places in the world; 
• increase children’s knowledge of other cultures and, in so doing, teach a respect and understanding of what it means to be a positive citizen in a multicultural country;
• allow children to learn graphic skills, including how to use, draw and interpret maps;
• enable children to know and understand environmental problems at a local, regional and global level;
• encourage in children a commitment to sustainable development and an appreciation of what ‘global citizenship’ means;
• develop a variety of other skills, including those of enquiry, problem solving, computing, investigation and how to present their conclusions in the most appropriate way.

In Focus Provision children will have the opportunity to:

• Engage in activities to develop skills linked to personal targets.
• Use the school grounds to support map work.
• Engage in sensory based geography opportunities to enable the children to develop awareness of the world around them.
• Weekly learning opportunities to enhance their life skills and learn to navigate around school and the local shops within a safe manner.
• Establish routines and structures and transition throughout the day using the appropriate visual aids.

In EYFS children will have the opportunity to:

• Draw information from a simple map.
• Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
• Describe what they see, hear and feel whilst outside.
• Recognise some environments that are different from the one in which they live.

In Key Stage 1 children will have the opportunity to:

Locational Knowledge

Pupils are taught to:

• name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans;
• name, locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas.

Place Knowledge

Pupils are taught to:

• understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of a small area of the United Kingdom, and of a small area in a contrasting non-European country.

Human and Physical Geography

Pupils are taught to:

• identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles;
• use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to:
• key physical features, including: beach, cliff, coast, forest, hill, mountain, sea, ocean, river, soil, valley, vegetation, season and weather,
• key human features, including: city, town, village, factory, farm, house, office, port, harbour and shop.

Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

Pupils are taught to:

• use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans studied at this key stage;
• use simple compass directions (North, South, East and West) and locational and directional language [for example, near and far; left and right], to describe the location of features and routes on a map;
• use aerial photographs and plan perspectives to recognise landmarks and basic human and physical features; devise a simple map; and use and construct basic symbols in a key;
• use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.

In Key Stage 2 children will have the opportunity to:

Locational Knowledge

Pupils are taught to:

• locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities;
• name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time;
• identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night).

Place Knowledge

Pupils are taught to:

understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America.

Human and Physical Geography

Pupils are taught to:

• describe and understand key aspects of:
• physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle;
• human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity, including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water.

Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

Pupils are taught to:

• use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied;
• use the eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and key (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build their knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world;
• use fieldwork to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies.