Geography

Geography explains the past, illuminates the present and prepares us for the future. What could be more important than that?

Curriculum Intent

At Buckingham Primary School, we aim to provide a largely knowledge based curriculum where children’s knowledge is deepened and applied through geographical skills. We aim to develop a well-rounded geographer, who can understand, and is aware, of the impact of their actions on the environment. It is important that they understand the importance of not being isolated and know what it means to live in a multi-cultural society and world. Alongside this, children will be constantly intertwining the key concepts of Geography throughout the years, frequently revisiting the basic knowledge and skills in order to enable these to transfer to the long-term memory.

 Our Geography curriculum covers the Early Years Foundation Stage Early learning goals and the National Curriculum objectives.

Early Years Foundation Stage 

Children take on the role of a geographer (exploring, discovering and beginning to make sense of the world around them) as it is important consideration when planning for the seven areas of inter-connected learning and development that make up the EYFS framework. Through the area ‘Understanding the world’ children can reflect on the events and routines that they and their peers experience. They are given the opportunity to formulate questions to investigate the similarities and differences that exist and be encouraged to discuss these with interest and sensitivity.

(Insert coverage of Understanding the World: for EYFS)

 Key Stage One and Key Stage Two

Through Key Stage One, the learning from Early Years is built upon through the focus on local area and the world we live in. The human and physical features of our school and local area are learnt and the use of geographical vocabulary is focused on. Our Key Stage Two areas of study develop children’s understanding of the wider world, including rivers, mountains, natural disasters, climate change and how our world has evolved and changed over the years.

Implementation

Our Geography curriculum is organised into areas of study and is taught across the year.

All learning will start by revisiting prior knowledge. This will be scaffolded to support children to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Learning will be supported through the use of knowledge organisers that provide children with scaffolding that supports them to retain new facts and vocabulary in their long-term memory.  During History areas of study, links are made to Geography knowledge and skills, where appropriate and impactful (for example, links to land use and settlements when learning about the River Nile during Ancient Egyptian times and when learning about the Anglo-Saxons). 

Timely and regular quizzes are used to review learning and check that children know more and remember more. Learning is also reviewed on a termly basis, after a period of forgetting, so that teachers can check whether information has been retained. Geography assessment is ongoing throughout the areas of study and are used to inform teachers with their planning lesson activities and differentiation. Teacher judgements are made on assessment grids at the end of each area of study.