Our Geography Curriculum

Aim

At Front Street Primary School, it is our aim to inspire pupils’ Geographical curiosity so that our pupils are actively involved in their learning.

Intent:

Our geography curriculum gives children an understanding of the world in which we live in. It helps to provoke and provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. At Front Street children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it.

The geography curriculum enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferrable to other curriculum areas. Geography is an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge, and skills.  At Front Street our intent, when teaching geography, is to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and people within it; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources, and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

As the children learn, they are challenged, taught how to think critically and their curiosity is stimulated. They build essential cultural capital, and all stakeholders are fully involved to make the geography curriculum the very best it can be. Children leave Front Street with a love of geography and the belief they CAN achieve and succeed in geography.

How does our Geography curriculum reflect our school drivers?
Relevant	Children learn that geography is all around us. In our ever-changing world, we adapt and enrich the curriculum to reflect on real life, our locality and current events.
Resilient	Our children have a growth mindset in geography: they believe in their ability to think like a geographer and build their geographical  knowledge. They can and will achieve and succeed in geography. They investigate enquiry questions and do not give up- their mindset enables them to persevere.
Ready	All children are taught age-related content and skills. Our geography curriculum is coherent and progressive. Children master their own year-group content to be ready for the next phase in their academic career. Our curriculum ensures children are secondary-ready by then end Year Six.
Ambitious	Through exposure to our geography curriculum, we encourage children to become aware of how important geography skills and knowledge are to the real world. Children become familiar with geography careers and aspire to gain skills to support them in possible future roles.
Progressive	Geography skills are built on year-upon-year. Children make progress in geography from their starting point. They are taught to apply skills and vocabulary across all units to ensure they are secondary-ready by the end of Year Six.
Independent	We aspire for our children to become curious, critical thinkers. Children learn to tackle geography independently. They understand that in geography, a certain amount of exploring and investigating is necessary to find out answers to enquiry questions.  Children can and will work with others, but do not become reliant upon them.
Inclusive	We have high aspirations for all. We believe, achieve and succeed in geography. Everyone CAN do geography – we do not put a limit on learning. Equity for all is ensured through a carefully crafted and cohesive curriculum. Where necessary, additional support is given to ensure that all children access the curriculum.

Implementation:

Teaching of Geography in the Foundation Stage:

Within the Early Years Foundation Stage, activities and experiences for pupils are based on the seven areas of learning and development.  The seven areas are:

• Personal, social and emotional development (prime area)
• Communication and language (prime area)
• Physical development (prime area).
• Literacy (specific area)
• Maths (specific area)
• Understanding the world (specific area)
• Expressive arts and design (specific area)

Foundation Stage Geography focuses on developing the pupils understanding of the world, communications and language, personal, social, and emotional skills as well as Maths and English. Within the foundation stage the pupils learn through experiences that give children a great understanding about the world in which we live. Their experiences begin with the exploration of their immediate natural environment, using their senses and understand the need to respect where we are. The children begin to understand that there are different countries in the world and talk about the differences they have either seen in photographs or in real life.

The children draw simple maps and talk about the information on maps. They talk about similarities and differences between different countries and recognise the people live in places that may differ from where we live.

Links to:

Understanding of the world – people and culture and the natural world.

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community.Our geography curriculum is sequenced for our children across school, and we make it easy for them to know more and remember more. The link for the Geography National Curriculum is below.

Teaching of Geography in KS1

Pupils should develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality. They should understand basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness.

Learning is focussed around – locational knowledge, place knowledge, human geography, physical geography, geography skills and fieldwork.

Teaching of Geography in KS2

Pupils should extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

Learning is focussed around – locational knowledge, place knowledge, human geography, physical geography, geography skills and fieldwork.

Impact:

Children leave Front Street with a love of geography and the belief that they CAN achieve and succeed in geography.

Children will develop a clear understanding about the world in which they live. Children will be inspired and curious to know more about our world. Teaching will equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically and develop perspective and judgement. Geography teaching will ensure that children understand the complexity of our planet and how this has changed over time. It will always begin with their locality and ensure they understand where they are and what their locality is like.  They will understand the processes that cause change, over time, to physical and human features.

Assessment

Teachers will assess geography throughout each unit of work and will use assessment to inform planning, which is specific the children’s emerging needs to ensure all children receive high quality teaching and can embed key geographical skills.

Inclusion and Equal Opportunities:

Our firm belief is that all children can and will succeed in geography.  Our curriculum is fully inclusive and supports ranging needs and cultural diversity. We adapt the curriculum content and resource appropriately, to enable all children to make progress in the subject. Our geography curriculum is inclusive: we have high aspirations for all, including children with SEND. ALL pupils will be supported to access age-appropriate content within the geography curriculum – this could be through in – class support, the use of resources and through intervention. The aim in geography is to scaffold ALL pupils (including those identified with SEND) towards independence, not dependence. Where there are cases when pupils are working significantly below their year group content, such pupils will be given a bespoke curriculum, based upon their needs (as identified on their learning plan or EHCP). We work in compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 to ensure our curriculum is accessible for pupils with SEND

British Values:

British Values and our core values are placed at the heart of everything we do. This often feeds into the Geography curriculum. Cultural capital development is addressed through visits to sites of geographical interest in addition to the use of the  internet to investigate across the globe. We aim to  enrich pupils’ time in our school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and provide opportunities to engender an appreciation of the natural world and the human impact.

If you have any further questions, related to geography, here at Front Street, please contact the school office who will be happy to help.

If you have any further questions, related to geography, here at Front Street, please contact the school office who will be happy to help.

Awards and Quality Marks:

We are proud to have achieved the Primary Geography Quality Mark SILVER award 2025

Geography Documents

Geography Documents	Download
Geography Long term plan with enquiry question Amended	Download

Geography Policy