Intent of our geography curriculum, provision and enrichment

The intent of our geography curriculum is to develop a deep knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Pupils will explore aspects of their diverse world, its people, resources and environments, using accurate vocabulary to make connections and observations of change over time. Pupils will develop the geographical fieldwork skills required to flourish as curious explorers and responsible global citizens of the future.

Implementation

• Our geography curriculum distinguishes between subject topics and threshold concepts – subject topics are the specific aspects of the subjects that are studied; threshold concepts are explored in a wide breadth of topics and enable us to make links between the subject topics
• Progression is provided through ‘Milestones’, each of which includes the procedural and semantic knowledge that children need in order to understand the threshold concepts
• Knowledge categories in each subject enable children to express their understanding of the threshold concepts
• Learning journeys are used to organise knowledge into meaningful units and enable children to make meaningful links between subject topics
• Recognising that the development of depth of understanding takes time, each milestone enables children to make gradual progress in their procedural fluency and semantic strength. The timescale for sustained mastery is, therefore, two years of study
• Our content is subject specific, with clear intra-curricular links identified
• Retrieval of previously learned content is frequent and regular
• Spaced repetition and continuous provision provide opportunities to increase storage and retrieval strength
• Interleaving within a 2-year cycle enables children to discriminate between topics and aids long-term retention
• Geography is taught discretely through a variety of enriching teaching approaches
• The development of enquiry skills underpins all learning. Understanding of processes and locations is nurtured through access to and critical analysis of a range of resources and practical fieldwork tasks
• We embrace a wide range of opportunities, providing access to experiences that will enrich the learning journey of our pupils.
• Educational trips, visits from specialists, themed days and use of our outside environment (including the Woodland Classroom) are used to enhance the curriculum and develop a love of geography.

Inclusivity 

Valuing every child as a unique individual, teaching and learning will be adapted to ensure equitable provision, representing all protective characteristics. 

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

Within our geography curriculum, we explore and make connections with a balance of spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects in order to prepare our children for life in modern Britain and our diverse world. 

Curriculum Content

Progression of knowledge

We have created comprehensive documents which include our whole school curriculum progression for Geography. The school uses the threshold concepts of the Chris Quigley curriculum to form its subject progression. 

For copyright reasons, this document is not published on our website, but is available on request.

Subject gallery

Pupil voice

The way that we live can change our environment in different ways – people in the Amazon use the natural resources around them; in our country, our factories and cars change the environment. Some things in these two communities are the same but other things are very different.

Useful websites: