Geography

Intent

At Christ Church Primary School, we aim to inspire children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people. We believe in encouraging all children to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. This will instil a passion and interest for the subject overall, providing children with the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary needed to be confident geographers.

Learning is linked to a range of topics and the children will have opportunities to investigate places, investigate patterns and communicate geographically. They will build on their prior learning and revisit these areas regularly, allowing them to remember more, know more and understand more.

Children at Christ Church will develop an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like, using geography to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world.

We see exploring geography within the context of the immediate and wider local area as highly valuable and our children will be provided with the chance to explore the geography of their locality. We are committed to providing them with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area of Chadderton and Oldham so that they can develop a real sense of who they are and what makes their local area unique.

Curriculum Map

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Implementation

Children in Reception will:

Draw information from a simple map.
Recognise some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
Explore the natural world around them.
Recognise some environments that are different to the one in which they live.
Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps.
Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and (when appropriate) maps.
Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons.

Children in Key Stage 1 will:

Investigate the world’s continents and oceans.
Investigate the countries and capitals of the United Kingdom.
Compare and contrast a small area of the United Kingdom with that of a non-European country.
Explore weather and climate in the United Kingdom and around the world.
Use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to and describe key physical and human features of locations.
Use world maps, atlases and globes.
Use simple compass directions.
Use aerial photographs.
Use fieldwork and observational skills.

Children in Key Stage 2 will:

Locate the world’s countries, with a focus on Europe, North and South America
Identify key geographical features of the countries of the United Kingdom, and show an understanding of how some of these aspects have changed over time.
Locate and understand the significance of the geographic zones of the world.
Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region or area of the United Kingdom (different from that taught at Key Stage 1).
Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region or area in a European country.
Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of the human and physical geography of a region or area within North or South America.
Describe and understand key aspects of: physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes and the water cycle.
Describe and understand key aspects of: human geography, including: settlements, land use, economic activity including trade links and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water supplies.
Use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied.
Use the eight points of a compass, four-figure grid references, symbols and keys (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build knowledge of the United Kingdom and the world.
Use a wide range of geographical sources in order to investigate places and patterns.
Use fieldwork to observe, measure and record the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs and digital technologies.

Geography Embedded Knowledge

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Geography Progression of Skills

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Fieldwork

Knowledge Organisers

Integral to our high-quality curriculum, children use knowledge organisers to help develop a deeper understanding and to perform increasingly complex skills. Introduced at the beginning of a topic we use them as a point of reference throughout to help children gain, retain and build the knowledge and skills as set out in our well sequenced geography curriculum.