Geography

Geography at CBINS

Intent - Our geography curriculum has been carefully specified, ordered coherently and builds over time. It has been designed to widen the children’s knowledge and understanding of the world around them. We build on geographical knowledge and understanding of children’s local area, The UK, Europe and the World. Our curriculum helps children deepen their understanding of physical and human geographical processes fostering curiosity and fascination for the world we live in. We feel it is crucial for our children to discover and appreciate their immediate environment and the wider world, observing changes that might occur, in order for them to begin their journey to becoming global citizens.

Implementation – We implement this by following a cycle of learning experiences that builds on prior geographical knowledge and understanding in order to meet and go beyond national expectations as outlined in the EYFS and KS1 curricula. Each year our curriculum begins with a ‘Spatial Sense’ unit that explicitly teaches geographical skills which are then used in context throughout the rest of the year. This unit builds upon children’s prior knowledge before moving children on as the level of challenge increases from year to year. Children learn to become geographers through: play and exploration; discussion and talk with peers and knowledgeable adults; investigating relevant, real world open-ended questions; using key geographical resources; and quality first teaching. Crucial to this is a rich learning environment that encourages children to use and apply geographical language to communicate their ideas. In Key Stage One children will undertake fieldwork and use observational skills to study the geography of their school and the surrounding environment.

Impact – Our Geography curriculum leads to good results across the school. At the end of EYFS last academic year 89% of children achieved Early Learning Goal in Understanding the World – The World, which was above national average and 15% of those children exceeded expectation. At the end of Key Stage 1 86% of children are working at the expected standard or above in Geography. This is reflected in our children’s strong understanding of geographical concepts, using subject specific language and ability to use and apply their geographical skills during meaningful discovery, exploration and play, both inside and outside the classroom. Children will become more skilled at answering questions such as; what is it like to live in this place? What are the challenges of this environment? How have people changed this landscape over time?