Geography
Geography Curriculum Intent
To provide a highly engaging and challenging geography curriculum that encourages our students to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. The curriculum will promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments. Their curiosity and fascination about the world and its people will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
Sequencing and Progression
Units in the whole school curriculum map are organised so that they build on prior learning. Children begin by learning about their locality, London, the UK and then the wider world. Within a unit, lessons build up to answer the overarching enquiry question.
What does geography look like at Noel Park?
At Noel Park we ensure that each lesson teaches a balance of knowledge and skills. For every new topic we begin with a launch day where children complete a range of activities linked to the new geography unit they are studying. This allows the children to immerse themselves in their new unit and develop a good understanding of the knowledge they will need from the very beginning. Lessons then continue over a 6 week block. In each lesson the children focus on a particular geographical skill, such as locational knowledge, physical geography or map work. There skills are repeated as children go through the year and as they move through the school. This allows for a clear progression of skills from Year 1 to Year 6.
Early Years
By the end of Early Years, children will know that there are different countries in the world and will be able to talk about the differences they have experienced or seen in photos. They will be able to discuss members of their immediate family and community and understand that some places are special. They will have opportunities to talk about similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries and will learn about the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them. Children will also be taught that there are some environments that are different to the one in which they live and will be able to draw information from a simple map.
Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1, children will learn to name, locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas. They will also be able to name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans. Children will study the the human and physical geography of the United Kingdom and a contrasting non-European country. They will explore seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and will learn the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles. They will also have the opportunity to develop their fieldwork skills, using world maps, atlases and globes as well as observational skills to think about the geography of their school and its grounds. In doing this, they will learn how to use simple compass directions and locational and directional language to describe a location.
Lower Key Stage 2
In Lower Key Stage 2, children will deepen their knowledge of the UK and the wider world. They will learn how to locate and name the continents on a World Map, locate the main countries of Europe, identify capital cities of Europe, locate and name the countries making up the British Isles and identify the longest rivers and largest deserts in the world. They will also have the opportunity to compare a region of the UK with a region in Europe, understanding geographical similarities and differences through exploration of human and physical geography. They will look more closely at rivers and the water cycle, deserts, climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts as well as beginning to think about human geography such as trade links and types of settlements. They will build on their knowledge of maps and atlases by learning how to use the eight points of a compass, two figure grid references and simple ordnance survey maps.
Upper Key Stage 2
In Upper Key Stage 2, children will compare and contrast two different regions in the UK, one rural and one urban. They will learn about time zones and the significance of longitude and latitude, as well as having discussions about key physical and human characteristics of key cities across the world. They will learn about topography, thinking about erosion, hills, mountains and rivers and exploring how these features have changed over time. Children will have the opportunity to compare a region in the UK with a region in a non-European continent, learning about the reasons for any significant differences. They will learn how to describe and understand key aspects of physical geography including mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, looking at plate tectonics and the ring of fire. They will also have opportunities to build upon their knowledge of coasts, rivers and the water cycle, including transpiration, climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts. They will look in more detail at human geography, in particular trade and resource distribution. They will continue to use maps, atlases and globes, progressing to using four figure and, in Year 6, six figure grid references, symbols and keys and build their knowledge of the UK and further afield.
Policies and Documents
Our Geography Curriculum
Geography Curriculum Map 2023-2024.docx.pdfProgression of Skills
Geography Progression of skills 2022-2023