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Geography

Intent

At the Queens’ Federation we aim to foster ‘Learning for Life.’

We will provide a rich, relevant and inspirational curriculum that promotes a lifelong love of learning and equips our pupils with the key knowledge and understanding, skills and personal qualities that they will need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Our curriculum is designed to be relevant to our children and is linked to the context of our school and the local community.

At the Queens’ Federation, we aim to inspire pupil’s curiosity, interest and appreciation about the world and the people who live in it. We strive to provide pupils with a broad and balanced geography curriculum which develops their understanding of locational knowledge, place knowledge and human and physical geography. This is accompanied by the development and application of key skills, supported by fieldwork.

Implementation

Our geography curriculum is centered round the development of an understanding of the geographical area in which we live, including the schools grounds themselves. Pupils will learn about their immediate local area, the wider local community and where our community fits into Great Britain and the world beyond. The curriculum is designed to develop the key knowledge and skills to find out about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with an understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Key geographical skills and knowledge are built upon year by year and are sequenced appropriately to maximize learning for all pupils.

Fieldwork, trips and visits are a key part of our geography curriculum. Our school environment and the local area is fully utilised within the curriculum and extensive opportunities for learning outside the classroom are embedded within units of work. The curriculum is enriched, wherever possible, through links to learning in other curriculum areas such as history, science and mathematics.

We view assessment as a holistic process, which takes place in every lesson through observation of, in questioning and in conversation with pupils and in the production of written outcomes. Geography assessment criteria set out the key knowledge and skills that a pupil should achieve at the end of each unit of work.

Impact

 Our geography curriculum will inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives, equipping them well for further education and beyond. As pupils progress throughout the school, they will develop a deep knowledge, understanding and appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider geographical context. Pupil outcomes evidence a broad and balanced geography curriculum and at the end of each year, pupils achieve age related expectations and retain the knowledge and skills learnt from each unit of work.

Yearly Overview

Below is a table of Geography topics for each year group by term:

  Autumn 1 Autumn 2 Spring 1 Spring 2 Summer 1 Summer 2
Y1

Place Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography: The school and its grounds

Locational Knowledge: World’s continents and oceans

   

Human and Physical Geography / Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Local Area Visit (Cherry Hinton Hall)

 
Y2

Locational Knowledge: Four countries of the UK

Seasonal Changes / Weather Patterns

 

Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Local Area Visit / Map Skills

   

Place Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography: Comparison of area of China and UK

Y3

Human and Physical Geography / Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Local Area Study

Locational Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography: Settlements

Place Knowledge: Comparison of area of Greece and Cambridge

     
Y4    

Locational Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography / Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Changes in Land Use / Local Area Chalk Pit Visit

Human and Physical Geography / Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Climate Zones, Biomes, Vegetation Belts, Time Zones

 

Place Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography: Comparison of East Anglia and region of North America

Y5    

Locational Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography / Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Mountains, Rivers, The Water Cycle

Locational Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography / Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Mountains, Rivers, The Water Cycle

Human and Physical Geography: Tourism / Impact of Tourism in Kenya

 
Y6    

Locational Knowledge / Place Knowledge / Human and Physical Geography: South America 

Human and Physical Geography: Rainforests and Deforestation

Locational Knowledge / Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Cambridge and the UK

Physical Geography: Earthquakes and Volcanoes

 

Learning Examples

Toucan Class children enjoyed exploring the atlases with a partner to locate England and Greece for their comparison study.