“Geography explains the past, illuminates the present and prepares us for the future. What could be more important than that?”
- Michael Palin
Our Goal
At English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, we believe in a high-quality geography curriculum that is accessible to all children, ensuring they know more, remember more, and understand more. Our geography teaching helps pupils gain a secure knowledge of the world and its people. Our curriculum is carefully designed to build links between current and previous learning, with a particular focus on our locality to help children develop a sense of identity and observe specific locations. We aim to make our children curious about the world, open-minded, and responsible for their actions. Geography lessons focus on developing geographical skills and are enriched through fieldwork.
How we teach Geography
Our geography planning maps out the progression of knowledge and understanding, connected by substantive concepts that thread through each year group and are covered in various topics. This allows children to revisit and build on previous learning, exploring content in increasing depth and complexity. Our approach connects the curriculum while developing an understanding of geography's unique aspects.
Substantive Concepts:
Key knowledge and skills are mapped out to ensure progression between year groups. Teachers use various teaching styles to develop pupils' knowledge and skills, ensuring lessons are accessible and challenging for all learners. Outcomes are regularly monitored to ensure sound understanding of key knowledge.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we follow the ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’ guidance, aiming for all children in reception to have an understanding of the world by the end of the academic year. Children explore different environments, make observations, and draw the natural world.
Impact
Our geography curriculum inspires curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, equipping children with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources, and environments. As children progress, their growing knowledge helps them understand the interaction between physical and human processes, and the formation and use of environments and landscapes. Geographical knowledge and skills provide frameworks to explain how the Earth’s features are shaped, interconnected, and change over time.
Outcomes in geography books demonstrate a broad and balanced curriculum and high-quality work that evidences the acquisition of key knowledge.
Related Blog Posts
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This week we have enjoyed the mild autumnal weather and spent a lot of time outdoors talking about our environment. As the children collected twigs and leaves for the mud kitchen, they recognised the different colours, textures and shapes. They continue to develop and strengthen their gross motor…
Why did the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sink?
Today we looked at the disaster of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
We discussed the dangers of travelling on the Great Lakes and the factors that led to the ship sinking.
Isabella 5A, ‘I enjoyed having the opportunity to research in class.’