Geography
Our Vision
At our school, we believe that geography is about much more than knowing where places are on a map. It is more about developing children's curiosity about the world, helping them to understand the people and places within it and exploring how the world around us is shaped, connected and constantly changing. We want our children to develop a fascination with the world and a lifelong interest in the subject. Through our geography curriculum we aim to equip pupils with the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to make sense of the world around them, both locally and globally.
We follow the Primary Knowledge Curriculum (PKC), which provides a carefully sequenced, knowledge-rich approach to teaching geography. The curriculum has been designed so that knowledge is explicitly identified, organised coherently and built upon progressively from year to year. This allows children to develop secure foundations, making meaningful connections between their learning and deepening their understanding over time. We believe that children need a strong foundation of geographical knowledge in order to become confident geographers. By learning about a wide range of places, people, environments and geographical processes, children develop an understanding of how our world works and their place within it.
Why do we teach Geography this way?
Our geography curriculum is built around key principles:
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Developing a strong knowledge base
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Understanding Geographical concepts
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Developing geographical skills
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Understanding our world
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Making connections and critical thinking
Our curriculum
At St John’s, our curriculum explores the world at different scales, from our local area and the United Kingdom to Europe and the wider world. Children learn about a variety of places, people and environments, developing an understanding of both physical and human geography.
Each year begins with a Spatial Sense unit, where children explicitly develop important geographical skills, including map reading, using atlases, understanding scale, interpreting data and using coordinates. These skills are then applied throughout the year as children explore different geographical topics. We also provide opportunities for children to undertake fieldwork, observe their local environment and apply their geographical knowledge in real-life contexts.
Key Stage 1 – Our Aims
In Key Stage 1, we aim to develop children's curiosity about the world, starting with their own school and local area. Children learn to:
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Understand and describe their local environment.
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Name and locate the countries and capital cities of the UK, the seven continents and five oceans.
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Recognise basic human and physical geographical features.
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Compare different places and environments.
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Develop early map-reading skills using maps, atlases and globes.
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Use simple geographical vocabulary and undertake basic fieldwork.
Key Stage 2 – Our Aims
In Key Stage 2, children build on their prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of the world and its geographical processes. Children learn to:
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Develop their knowledge of the UK, Europe and the wider world.
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Locate countries and significant geographical features using maps and atlases.
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Understand physical processes such as rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes.
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Explore human geography, including settlements, population, trade and industry.
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Compare different places and understand how environments change.
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Develop their map-reading, data-handling and fieldwork skills.
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Explore global issues such as sustainability, migration and globalisation.
The Impact of Our Curriculum
By the time children leave our school, we want them to have a secure understanding of the world, its people and environments. We want them to be confident in using geographical knowledge and skills, asking questions, making connections and explaining their understanding.
Above all, we want our children to develop a lifelong interest in Geography, appreciate the diversity of our world and understand their responsibilities as global citizens.
