Our children will be taught a Geography curriculum that encourages them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding about the world we live in. We believe that all children should be inspired to ask questions about the world on their doorstep and the wider world. We encourage them to ask questions and build on this curiosity through the rich, diverse curriculum provided here at Thames View. As the children progress throughout the school, they will deepen their understanding of the human and physical processes that occur as well as learning about how the world has changed and how it is constantly changing. We want our children to learn about their role and impact in the world and how we can work together towards a more sustainable future.
Aims
Thames View aims for Geography are in line with the National Curriculum for KS1 and KS2.
The geography aims to ensure that all pupils:
- develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
- understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
- are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
- collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
- interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
Foundation Stage
In the Foundation Stage, children are inspired and supported to lead their Geography learning. The children are encouraged to learn about the world around them using their own experiences of day to day life and the different backgrounds in our communities.
The children are supported by our teachers to pursue their interests in line with the Early Adopter Early Learning Goals. Geography fits into 'People, Culture and Communities' and 'The Natural World' strands from the Early Adopter Early Learning Goals 'Understanding the World'.
Key Stage 1 - Years 1 & 2
In Key Stage 1, children have limited experiences of the world, therefore the focus is on exploring their locality and building on from this. Gradually through Key Stage 1, they will investigate their locality, learn about the United Kingdom and eventually compare it with a non-European country. They will also cover the 7 continents and the 5 oceans. Whilst learning about the world, children will also begin to develop their vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and will be given opportunities to learn and apply geographical skills that include first-hand observations, map work, atlases etc. Children will be encouraged to not only answer geographical questions but to ask questions too. At Thames View we encourage cross-curricular links, so there will be opportunities for children to apply their geography knowledge and skills in other subjects.
Key Stage 2 - Years 3 - 6
In Key Stage 2, the focus is on expanding children's knowledge of the wider world. This includes looking at the United Kingdom in more detail, Europe, North and South America. Whilst looking at the wider world, there will be more opportunities to focus on significant human features around the world and their impact, physical features and the natural process they go through to form. Children will use the vocabulary taught in previous years and develop on this when explaining their learning and when asking geographical enquiry based questions. The skills taught in this key stage will build upon previous skills learnt and allow the children to explore and apply these more deeply. Children will also have the opportunity to apply their geographical knowledge, skills and understanding across different subjects.
Examples of Geography Learning:
Children in Key Stage 1 have been exploring their locality.
Children in Key Stage 2 have been investigating volcanoes.
Useful Websites
At Thames View Primary, we subscribe to Oddizzi and Digimaps to support children's learning.