Geography

Intent:

At St Mary’s, we want our children to understand their place in the world. Our intent is to inspire lifelong curiosity about the human and natural worlds at local, national and global levels. We aim to encourage inquisitiveness and practical investigations that develop children’s skills in recording and presenting findings that are transferrable throughout the curriculum. Our children will develop understanding and appreciation about a diversity of places and people as well as the world’s landforms and resources. They will be encouraged to recognise the interactions between humans and their environment and their responsibilities in this relationship. Children will be given the confidence to debate topics they feel passionate about and given opportunities to develop their cultural capital and experiences of the world.

Implementation:

Mrs. Woodcraft is our Geography Co-ordinator.

At St. Mary's, Geography is taught through "Understanding the World" within the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum in Acorn and Chestnut (Nursery and Reception):

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage

We teach the Geography National Curriculum in Birch to Oak (Years 1 to 4):

Geography Programmes of Study Key Stages 1 and 2

From Year 1 to 4 (Birch to Oak) we use the Kapow curriculum scheme to teach Geography.

Kapow has been chosen as our main scheme of work as it is a well-sequenced curriculum which shows good progression of learning. The units are appropriate and inspiring for our children and fieldwork is integrated into all topics.

We also subscribe to Digimap for Schools to enchance our Geography lessons within school. Digimap allows the children to access a range of maps from around the world and develop their map reading, digital and data skills at the same time!

The following table shows which Geography topics are taught throughout the school:

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Acorn (Nursery) Cycle 1	Me and My World: Where we live – physical features of our home Autumn – weather and environmental changes How to travel the world		Special People: Locations of emergency services buildings Winter and Spring – weather and environmental changes		Amazing Animals: Learn about some different countries and the animals found there Explore the features of the jungle Compare the weather at home to other places of personal interest Identify seasonal patterns of plants and animals
Acorn (Nursery) Cycle 2	Me and My World: Where we live – physical features of our home Autumn – weather and environmental changes How to travel the world		Once Upon a Time: Physical features of caves, forests, swamps and mountains Winter and Spring – weather and environmental changes		Come Outside: To know what a map is and what it is used for To look at the physical features of a farm To know that some food comes from farms Identify seasonal patterns of plants and animals

Reception (Chestnut) Cycle 1	Me and My World: Where we live – who lives there Comparing houses in the village Making a basic map of the school Autumn – weather and environmental changes Milton Keynes panto trip – journey, distance and simple differences with Clophill		Special People: Features and locations of emergency service buildings – using a map and marking in relation to Clophill Introduction to Digimaps Winter and Spring – weather and environmental changes		Amazing Animals: Jungles – locating on a map, physical features and animals found there Comparing weather here to South America Journey of a banana to us Zoo trip – using a map to navigate around Summer – weather and environmental changes
Reception (Chestnut) Cycle 2	Me and My World: Where we live – who lives there Comparing houses in the village Making a basic map of the school Autumn – weather and environmental changes Milton Keynes panto trip – journey, distance and simple differences with Clophill		Once Upon a Time: Physical features of caves, forests, swamps and mountains Location of nearest Castle Introduction to Digimaps Winter and Spring – weather and environmental changes		Come Outside: Farms – locating on a map, field use, drawing maps Comparing weather here to Asia Farm to fork Farm trip – using a map to navigate around Summer – weather and environmental changes

Year 1 (Birch)	What is it like here?	What is the weather like in the UK?	What is like living in Shanghai?

Year 2 (Hazel)	Would you prefer to live in a hot or cold place?	Why is our world wonderful?	What is it like to live by the coast?

Year 3 and 4 (Rowan and Oak)	Cycle 1
	What are rivers and how are they used?	Why are rainforests important to us?	Where does our food come from?
	Cycle 2
	Why do people live near volcanoes?	Who lives in Antarctica?	Are all settlements the same?

As a school we also subscribe to the Geographical Association to support our knowledge, understanding and development of the subject.

Impact:

All children are assessed in Geography by their teachers, on a termly basis. Mrs. Woocraft then analyses the attainment and progress of the whole school in this area. This information informs future teaching and learning in Geography.