Intent

At Christ Church First School, we aim to deliver a high-quality geography curriculum, not just through experiences in the classroom, but also with the use of fieldwork and educational visits, which inspires in pupils a curiosity about the world and its people.

We wish to instil a love for Geography in our pupils and develop their knowledge of the world, as well as their place within it, and encourage them to undertake new experiences throughout their life.

We aim to provide all pupils with opportunities to investigate and build geographical expertise from their local area to the wider world. This includes locational knowledge, understanding of human and physical features and geographical and fieldwork techniques.

We will encourage pupils to ask questions and propose solutions to environmental problems within the local community and the wider world. Increasing awareness of environmental issues and the impact humans have aims to encourage pupils to become reflective members of society who consider their actions/choices and actively invest in protecting the planet.  

Implementation

In the Early Years, it is the first opportunity to see how a child interacts with their environment and how the environment influences them. Staff follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework which aims to guide children, to make sense of their physical world and their community by allowing them to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment – this is the first step of becoming a geographer.

In KS1 and KS2, teachers maintain strong links to the National Curriculum guidelines to ensure all aspects, knowledge and skills of geography are being taught across all year groups.

  • Geography lessons are planned coherently, using the skills progressions, to build pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the world and the interaction between physical and human processes.
  • Opportunities to build geographical expertise in their local area, expanding out to the wider world. This includes locational knowledge, understanding of human and physical features and geographical and fieldwork techniques.
  • Opportunities to develop their mapping skills in the classroom and to apply them out and about in the local area, such as Stonefield park, the canal and river walks and The Common Plot will be provided for all pupils. Fieldwork allows pupils to apply geographical skills in a real-life setting and explore their local area and the features within it. We will develop deep subject knowledge and key skills while differentiating work for all abilities.
  • Y1 visit the town to gather data and locate key physical and human features in the autumn. They observe and measure the weather in the school grounds in the spring term.
  • Y2 use the school grounds and town centre to study mapping skills in the autumn term. They visit the river and canal in town in the summer term.
  • Y3 visit the town and immediate surroundings to study the key features of a settlement in the autumn term. They may visit Apedale mining museum in the spring term to study coal and natural resources.
  • Y4 visit the local River Trent in the autumn term to study aspects of rivers.

From EYFS up to the end of Y4, pupils will be taught various geographical terms both in our local area and worldwide.

Geography assessment is informal and ongoing, it informs teachers with planning lesson activities and differentiation.

All lessons are planned using skills progressions so that knowledge is taught across the year group and skills are progressed across the key stage with connections made to prior learning.

Lessons are carefully structured to secure the knowledge, skills and use of vocabulary highlighted in each unit plan and individual lesson outline. Each lesson outline begins with a main question followed by the knowledge to be secured in that lesson.

From Y2 upwards, children will be given the opportunity to show what they have learnt in an end of unit independent planning and writing task. Children will be encouraged to complete some of this task at home as a project. Lesson content along with the support of appropriate resources is supported by the incorporation of the KAPOW geography scheme.

Any major current geographical events will be focused on to inform pupils of worldwide events that are being reported in the news (e.g., natural disasters) and further builds their understanding of physical geography and place knowledge through class.

Impact

Children at Christ Church First School will be confident in their knowledge and skills learnt through a comprehensive curriculum and will develop a love and enthusiasm for the subject.

  • Well-constructed and well-taught lessons provide pupils with opportunities to research and apply skills independently – skills essential for lifelong learning. 
  • Book scrutiny will indicate high expectations and reflect what pupils have learned and that all learning builds towards a clearly defined end point.
  • Pupils will leave Y4 with a strong knowledge of their local area and a confidence in knowing the location of other countries and cities around the world.
  • All pupils will be able to discuss and recall a variety of events current and historical, know where they happened in the world, be able to explain these aspects of human and physical geography.
  • Pupils will be able to confidently use maps and atlases (physical and digital). 
  • Knowledge and skills will have developed progressively to not only enable them to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum but to prepare pupils to become competent geographers as they continue with their education. 
  • Pupils will have thoroughly enjoyed learning about geography and will have developed a curiosity of the world around them on a local, national and international scale. This will encourage them to undertake new life experiences now and in the future.