Intent of our Geography Curriculum
At Bicton CE Primary School, our children learn to become responsible, global citizens who have a solid understanding of their place within the world. They will study the world and their own local area by reading and making maps; collecting and analysing data; researching people, places and habitats; and comparing and suggesting reasons for particular processes based on those comparisons.
The children will use their prior knowledge at every stage to help them find similarities and differences in different geographical settings or processes. Through building their core geographical knowledge, the intention is that it will inspire children’s curiosity and understanding about the world and the diverse places, people, resources, natural and human environments within it. Geography holds numerous opportunities for children to learn experientially, work independently and with others, widen their horizons, develop communication and language skills, apply mathematical and scientific knowledge, as well as explore their own creativity.
Opportunities also exist for children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This allows them to enrich their knowledge by visiting places they may not normally consider places of geographical interest and conducting geographical fieldwork within the local area. The intention is to inculcate in children an understanding that geography is an investigative and practical subject, in which the observation of and collection of data in different environments forms the foundation of geographical understanding. We expect children to evaluate their work, consider improvements, continually striving to do their best, of which they will be rightly proud.
Implementation of our Geography Curriculum
Children at Bicton CE Primary School learn geography, often in mixed age classes, on a two-year cycle. The curriculum is broad and balanced, adapted from the National Curriculum 2014 and resources from the Royal Geographical Society, as well as being adapted for Bicton’s particular location. The knowledge and skills the children learn are built upon from unit to unit to unit, with consolidation of core place and locational knowledge so that, as children progress from year group to year group, they can effectively progress in their learning.
In EYFS the children learn about their immediate locality. The children will explore places around our school and learn about familiar features, such as: houses, farms and shops. This will build upon their everyday experiences. They will encounter distant places through topics and stories. The children observe and discuss the weather regularly during EYFS, becoming familiar with the different types of weather and how it can affect us; for example, needing coats when it is cold, especially through the experience of Forest School, where they also begin to make their own sketch maps, and make trails.
In Key Stage 1 children focus on the local area and compare it with other parts of the world. They go out in the local area and investigate human and physical geographical features. Within a ten-minute walk from the school, all of the following features are available to them: church, houses, village hall, River Severn, bridge, farms, fields, woodland, roads, paths, street signs and post boxes. The children go out in this geographically rich environment and engage in simple fieldwork. During Year 1 and Year 2, the children study Hong Kong in some detail, contrasting this with their own local area. Also, they learn about specific countries on six different continents, such as India, Kenya, Italy, Australia, Canada and Brazil, as well as the people who live there, relating that learning to their own experiences. They learn about the seven continents and the five oceans, using maps to find and identify them. They use globes, maps and atlases to identify the countries of the UK and their capital cities. In doing this, they make maps and learn from many secondary sources. They observe and record the weather and changing seasons.
In Lower Key Stage 2, the children build upon their knowledge of the UK and begin to explore more of the world, comparing it with similar features or processes in the UK. The children will use maps and atlases to accurately locate places and features, using indexes and grid references. They will learn about mountains, earthquakes and volcanoes and will understand how they are formed. Being ideally situated next to the River Severn, the children will be able to link their learning of rivers and the water cycle to this local landmark. Children will study the world’s biomes comparing them to Bicton, and then focus on one of the world’s key geographical areas for both trade and the development of early civilizations: the Mediterranean, looking at the city of Bologna
in Italy in more detail.
In Upper Key Stage 2, the children will bring together their previous learning and extend it further by thinking deeper about our changing world. There is more of an emphasis on environmental impact of human activity and climate change. Children begin to explore North and South America, with a particular focus on the USA. Children will study megacities and how settlements develop. They will study global trade and how fair trade is often a response to the environmental impact of it. They will study the United Kingdom in more detail, comparing particular regions and cities, and the cultural diversity of the people of those regions.
In all Key Stages, children will use maps, atlases, aerial photographs and digital technology to gain a better understanding of the locations of different places in the world and the distance between them. Specific stand-alone lessons from the Royal Geographical Society at the beginning of the year develop children’s map skills. Children learn about using indexes in atlases; keys, scales and symbols for maps; the four (later on, eight) main compass directions; Ordnance Survey four digit grid references in lower Key Stage 2 and six digit in Upper Key Stage 2; timezones; latitude and longitude. In Key Stage 1, children will be taught the shapes of the major landforms of the Earth, looking at some of them in a little more detail to find places such as some countries, major rivers, cities, deserts, forests and mountain ranges, as well how to find the British Isles and what the constituent nations of the UK are. In Key Stage 2, children look at those features in more detail, finding the location of biomes are linked to climate zones; or that mountain ranges and volcanoes form along tectonic boundaries; or that river locations are dictated by shapes of mountains and hills; or significant settlements develop along the courses of rivers, and because of a confluence of communications links, for example, roads. Children learn to read maps that show these features through the use of a range of symbols, that may be different from one map to another.
Impact of our Geography Curriculum
At the end of Key Stage 2, children recognise the relevance of geography in the wider world and to their future lives. They understand and use a wide range of geographical specific vocabulary. They have acquired knowledge and a wide range of skills, covering all areas of the geography curriculum, which they can apply to a range of different geographical challenges moving forward in the next phase of their education. When children leave our school, they will be keen, competent geographers, with an understanding of how rich and varied our planet is in both its physical and human geography.
Children leave Bicton CE Primary School feeling that their efforts in geography were valued and their opinions heard. They have had opportunities to explore their practical and investigative skills and were encouraged to use them.
“Geography is a subject which holds the key to our future.” Michael Palin
Bicton Geography Curriculum – under review
Bicton Geography Curriculum End Points
Bicton Geography Skills Progression