Intent

The intent of our geography curriculum at Great Waltham is to develop children’s geographical skills and knowledge to provide a broad and diverse understanding of the world around them.

Implementation

To implement our geography curriculum, each year group has an initial essential skills and knowledge project in the Autumn term. Teaching these projects enables children to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of key geographical concepts and prepares them to study more thematic geography projects, with opportunities for revisiting concepts throughout the year.

Impact

The impact of delivering geography in a logical order enables children to gain substantive (knowledge of established geographical facts) and disciplinary knowledge (knowledge of the methods used to establish facts) by building on their understanding each year.

In the Early Years, children have the opportunity to explore the natural world through exploration and observation as part of the Understanding the World aspect of the EYFS.

In Key Stage 1, the children study urban and coastal environments and the physical and human features of the United Kingdom. In Lower Key Stage 2, the children focus on physical features and phenomena, including earthquakes, volcanoes, rivers and mountains. In Upper Key Stage 2, the children study agriculture and land use, with a focus in Year 6 on the polar regions.

How knowledge and skills build over time

There are opportunities for children to make meaningful connections by applying their knowledge to other curriculum areas such as history. For example, children revisit the geography of settlements in the history project School Days after studying types of settlements in the geography project Bright Lights, Big City. This provides the opportunity to use their knowledge and vocabulary in other contexts, therefore deeply embedding their skills. Our geography curriculum is carefully developed to allow children to use, apply and build on their knowledge, skills and vocabulary year after year. We develop knowledge and skills from children's immediate surrounding to wider and more complex places, environments and global issues.

Enrichment and wider opportunities

• Trips and visits
• Visitors or workshops
• Practical and real-life learning opportunities, including fieldwork.

Vocabulary Progression

EYFS

• Place
• Home
• School
• Road
• Map
• Near
• Far
• Weather
• River
• Hill
• Town
• Country
• Coast
• Ocean

Key Stage 1

• Village
• City
• Coast
• Beach
• Sea
• Ocean
• Continent
• Compass
• North, East, South, West
• Human feature
• Physical feature
• Environment
• Season

Lower Key Stage 2

• Settlement
• Region
• County
• Mountain
• Valley
• Volcano
• Climate
• Land use
• Grid reference
• Latitude
• Equator
• Hemisphere
• Trade
• Tourism

Upper Key Stage 2

• Biome
• Vegetation belt
• Tectonic plate
• Erosion
• Depostion
• Migration
• Urbanistaion
• Sustainability
• Renewable resource
• Population density
• Globalisation
• Conservation
• Polar region