Geography

At Collierley Nursery and Primary School we shape our geography curriculum to ensure it is fully inclusive to every child. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Geography; providing a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum; ensuring the progressive development of geographical concepts, knowledge and skills; and for the children to develop a love for geography.

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Intent

At Collierley Primary and Nursery School, we value Geography as a vital part of the National Curriculum. Our curriculum is designed to inspire curiosity about the world and develop children’s understanding of places, people, environments and natural processes.

Our intent is to ensure all pupils develop secure geographical knowledge and skills through first-hand experiences, both indoors and outdoors, reflecting our whole-school curriculum driver of active learning. We aim to equip pupils with the disciplinary knowledge needed to work as geographers by enabling them to:

Collect, analyse and communicate data
Use maps, globes, aerial photographs and digital mapping
Identify countries, continents and oceans
Understand physical and human geographical processes
Explore how landscapes are formed and used

Our curriculum has been developed using materials originally produced by the Geography Team at Durham County Council and adapted to meet the needs of our pupils. It is carefully sequenced to ensure pupils move from the familiar to the unfamiliar, starting with local geography and progressing to national, European and global studies, including case studies such as São Paulo.

We aim for every pupil to reach their potential in Geography through an inclusive curriculum where learning is accessible to all through adaptation, support and carefully planned progression from EYFS through to Key Stage 2.

Implementation

Geography is taught through a carefully sequenced curriculum that builds knowledge and skills over time.

Early Years Foundation Stage
Children begin by exploring their immediate environment and community. Through visits, first-hand experiences and discussion, pupils begin to understand their physical world and develop early geographical language.

Key Stage 1
The curriculum is skills-based and begins at a local scale before expanding outward. Pupils:

Study their local area and community
Develop basic map and fieldwork skills
Learn about the countries and seas of the United Kingdom
Begin to understand continents, oceans and world features

Teaching uses fieldwork, observation, maps, photographs and simple geographical sources to support pupils in working like geographers.

Key Stage 2
Learning builds progressively through:

Study of the UK and Europe
Investigation of physical processes (e.g. rivers, coasts, tectonics, climate and biomes)
Understanding of global trade, resources and environmental impact
Comparative studies between regions of the UK and the wider world

Lessons are adapted to meet pupil needs through:

Differentiated questioning
Additional scaffolds and resources
Support for pupils with SEND
Challenge opportunities for Greater Depth learners

Fieldwork is a key element across all key stages, allowing pupils to apply skills in real contexts and develop enquiry and investigation skills.

Impact

The impact of our Geography curriculum is that pupils leave Collierley as confident, curious learners with secure geographical knowledge and transferable enquiry skills.

Pupils will:

Demonstrate secure knowledge of local, national and global geography
Use geographical vocabulary accurately
Apply map and fieldwork skills confidently
Understand how physical and human processes shape the world
Make comparisons between different places and environments
Show curiosity and interest in the world around them

Impact is evidenced through:

Pupil voice showing strong recall of knowledge and understanding
Work in books demonstrating progression in skills and vocabulary
Fieldwork outcomes and enquiry work
Teacher assessment and end-of-unit outcomes
Monitoring activities such as book looks and learning walks

By the end of Year 6, pupils are prepared for secondary Geography and have developed the knowledge and skills needed to understand an increasingly interconnected world.