Aims
Our Geography curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:
-Develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
-Understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time are competent with Geography skills.
-Collecting, analysing and communicating with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
-Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
-Communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1, pupils will develop knowledge about the world the United Kingdom and their locality. Our Geography curriculum allows pupils to do all of these things, and compare and contrast their local are to other areas of the UK, and in turn the wider world. As can be seen through the Key Stage One Curriculum, pupils progressively build on the skills they have learnt. Moving from a study of the local area and a local case study, to drawing maps in order to know where they are situated in terms of other major landmarks in the local area. Then in turn, pupils will move on to studying a more regional area of the UK, the Yorkshire seaside. This gives pupils the opportunity to compare this location, to their locality and apply map skills learnt in previous units. Pupils will also consider the different seasons and how they are different. They will compare the seasons in the UK to seasons in other countries. The ‘Hot and Cold Places’ unit again allows pupils to compare and contrast climates across the world to the UK and consider why there are different climate zones. They will also consider pollution, which is discussed in our seaside topic, through waste being washed up on our beaches. These units also allow discussion across the curriculum, with different areas of the UK being studied in history. Pupils have the opportunity to look in more depth where these places are, using atlases and map skills. As per the unit overviews in Geography, location knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography and Geographical skills and fieldwork are woven throughout these units.
Key Stage Two
Pupils will extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They will develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge. Pupils have the opportunity to build on knowledge from Key Stage one. In their local study, pupils will develop skills acquired in their Key Stage One local study, such as map skills, comparing infrastructure, population, landmarks and map work. Units of work also allow pupils to learn about areas of the world studied in history, such as Italy (Ancient Rome) and The River Nile (Ancient Egypt). Studying these from a different angle gives pupils a richer understanding of how History and Geography go hand in hand. The issue of pollution is also developed in the ‘Plastic Pollution’ unit adding to the issues around waste and recycling in the ‘Seaside/ Recycling’ unit in Key Stage One. Pupils study the differences between seasonal and daily weather patterns in the UK, then equatorial and polar regions, building on the four seasons unit studied in Key Stage One.