Broad Town Church of England Primary School

"Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change. It is dynamic and relevant. For me, geography is a great adventure with purpose." - Michael Palin

Geography national curriculum (Click to read)

Geography is a rich and diverse subject that gives children the opportunity to learn about diverse places, people, resources, environments and the effect of mankind. It inspires a curiosity and fascination about the world from an early age and fosters enthusiasm and a passion for learning. By studying the beauty of Earth and the awesome power of Earth-shaping forces, we can fascinate, inspire and create globally-aware pupils.

Whilst the importance of geographical knowledge is recognised, we also wish to enable children to become lifelong geographers who have the skills and attitudes to continue to appreciate the world around them. Throughout the Geography curriculum at Broad Town, children will learn the Earth’s key physical and human processes. They will deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and how these affect landscapes and environments.

Our Forest school activities promote self-esteem, creativity, confidence and independence and often link to the geography national curriculum and foundation stage objectives. Our geography curriculum is supported by a range of exciting activities some which are part of our activity passports. These include, write a tour of your local area and make a treasure map.

We believe it is important that children remember and recall Geography curriculum knowledge to support their learning. For example, we want our children to be able to quickly locate countries on a map. We provide children with knowledge organisers, detailing the most important information they need to know. Children are quizzed on these in low-stakes, fun recall sessions to embed the learning of key facts and concepts in their long-term memories.

EYFS is separate from the National Curriculum (NC) however the children’s experiences form the foundation for their learning in Year 1 and beyond from the Geography NC.

EYFS Understanding the world

In foundation stage the children…….

• Look at and talk about where they live.
• Learn that they go to school in Broad Town, which is in England.
• Talk about different places that they visit eg the park, the beach, the farm, and can talk about some of the similarities and differences.
• Explore maps and make their own maps (often linked to stories such as ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’).
• Listen to stories which are set in different places, particularly different countries – this gives the opportunity to talk about how other countries are similar and different.
• Explore different places through some of our topics (e.g. animals - explore the different places they might live; space – learn what it looks like, feels like, what you can see etc; festivals/celebrations – learn about celebrations in other countries and this country e.g. Chinese New Year, Diwali, Eid).
• Have on display a large map of the world, put labels for land, sea, countries and places of interest that come up in our stories and topics.

Starting from the this academic year 2023-2024, our pupils will be following a new whole-school curriculum for Primary Geography with the following topics.

Click the units to find the lesson enquiry questions covered.