Geography

Our Intent 

We have structured and sequenced our lessons to ensure pupils have covered the skills required to meet the aims of the national curriculum. The content allows for a broader, deeper understanding of the four areas of geography identified in the curriculum. It develops contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places and understanding of the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, along with how they bring about variation and change over time. We intend to develop children’s curiosity and a fascination of the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. The units offer a range of opportunities for investigating places around the world as well as physical and human processes. The lessons are intended to improve children’s geographical vocabulary, map skills and geographical facts and provide opportunities for consolidation, challenge, and variety to ensure interest and progress in the subject so that over time, pupils know more, remember more and are able to do more.’ 

Substantive Knowledge  

This is the knowledge that needs to be taught and learned.  

The national curriculum splits this into four forms which interplay with each other:  

• locational knowledge 
• place knowledge 
• human and physical processes 
• geographical skills 

(The geography community also include ‘environmental’ alongside human and physical processes.) 

Disciplinary Knowledge 

This is the knowledge which considers how geographical knowledge was established and how it is revised with new findings by those in the field. 

• It can be seen as thinking geographically.  
• It is how pupils learn the practices of geographers and develop their understanding of their global sense of place.  
• It is applying their substantive knowledge to analyse real world problems and develop their own ideas about them. 

Our Implementation

In EYFS we have selected the Early Learning Goals that link most closely to the Geography National Curriculum: Understanding the World (People and Communities and Understanding the World (The World)

In KS1, children begin to use maps and recognise physical and human features to do with the local area, building to using maps to explore the continents and oceans of the world in year 2. Further, in year 2, children will begin to compare where they live to places outside of Europe and ask and answer geographical questions.

In KS2, map skills are developed further using digital maps, more keys and symbols and children begin to use more fieldwork skills. Through revisiting and consolidating skills, our lesson plans and resources help children build on prior knowledge alongside introducing new skills and challenge. All children expand on their skills in local knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, geographical skills, and fieldwork. Across both key stages, children have a range of opportunities to experience geography through practical engaging tasks beyond the classroom. Our lessons come with an end of unit assessment to ensure teachers are confident in the pupil’s progression of skills and knowledge and that they have met outcomes. Key words are also highlighted in each lesson, to be used by children to deepen their geographical knowledge.  

Our Impact

We believe that the impact of our Geography lessons and learning opportunities is that geography learning is loved by teachers and pupils across school, teachers have higher expectations and more quality evidence which can be presented in books. All children will use geographical vocabulary accurately and understand the different strands of geography, with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Children will begin to make relevant links from geography to other curriculum subjects, such as history and science. They will improve their enquiry skills and inquisitiveness about the world around them, and their impact on the world. All children will realise that they have choices to make in the world, developing a positive commitment to the environment and the future of the planet. Children will become competent in collecting, analysing, and communicating a range of data gathered. They will be able to interpret a range of sources of geographical information and they will communicate geographical information in a variety of ways. All children in the school will be able to speak confidently about their geography learning, skills, and knowledge.