Geography

Geography Intent, Implementation and Impact

At St George’s we provide our pupils with a Geography curriculum which enables them to become confident, creative and independent learners who can explore the use of different knowledge and skills throughout their learning. We seek to broaden children’s real-life experiences both inside and outside of the school through enriching trips and educational visits. As well as this, we have designed a curriculum which reflects our children’s heritages- starting with what is familiar to them and building outwards to the wider world. Our high-quality Geography education inspires in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and it’s people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching equips pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, along with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

Across the course of a year, each year group studies a variety of carefully selected Geography topics. Each topic is contextually relevant to our pupils and has the scope to encompass all areas of Geographical skills and knowledge. We align our Geography curriculum with other areas of teaching so that links across and between subjects can be made, giving children a broad base of knowledge, facts, vocabulary, real-life experience and contexts. We strive to provide our pupils with the language to articulate themselves within the subject, and to aid this we employ a precise, tiered approach to the teaching of vocabulary which is mirrored in other areas of the wider curriculum.

Children’s geographical learning starts with the familiar and slowly builds outwards, from London, to the UK, to Europe, South America and Africa. Their understanding of how their local area fits into the wider world is therefore gradually accrued. Understanding of physical geography also starts with the familiar:  from learning about the seasons in EYFS and the local area in Year 1, to mountains and volcanoes in Year 3 and rivers in Year 5. More in-depth studies allow children to develop their understanding of the interactions between physical and human geography, with units on the Australia in Year 1, Jamaica in Year 4 and African Empire in Year 5/6.

Progression within the curriculum is clear: it starts with what is familiar to children and extends outwards. Progression in fieldwork skills is built across units, with the London units in Years 1 and Year 5 offering rich opportunities for mapping, technical drawing and exploring their environment in a concrete, physical way. Other units offer scope for children to use digital resources, globes, atlases and geographical information systems to explore regions. Key technical and tier 2 vocabulary is mapped onto each unit, allowing children to build a rich bank of geographical language. Each unit is supported by a knowledge organiser, which details the key facts, vocabulary and skills for each unit. This is sent home in advance of the unit, allowing children to make a head start on their learning.

Links are built with other subjects, predominantly but not exclusively with writing, art, music and science.

The impact of our Geography teaching on our children is to:

• achieve high quality outcomes
• make outstanding progress in relation to their individual starting points
• have a sound knowledge of Geography in the world around them
• have secure ability to use and apply geographical skills and knowledge  

You can find the Geography Primary National Curriculum here.

You can find our curriculum here.