Geography 

"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living." 

Sir David Attenborough 

 

At BSCA Primary it is our intent to create geographers! We want our children to love geography. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be cartographers, town planners, conservationists or weather forecasters and so on.  

 

Our geography curriculum embodies our vision: we create a place where all can achieve life in its fullness. 

 

Our children BELIEVE they are geographers who STRIVE to know more and remember more. They CARE for each other and the world. Finally, they ACHIEVE their excellence by working hard- at the end of their time in primary school they are geographers ready to continue their learning journey in key stage 3 and beyond. 

 

By living our vision and values we achieve our Trust vision: through our geography curriculum our children will have: 

Life in all its fullness. 

 

Our geography curriculum has been carefully crafted so that our children develop their geographical capital. We want our children to remember their geography lessons in our school and to have amazing memories to look back on. 

 

Curriculum Intent 

The geography curriculum promotes curiosity and a life long love of learning. It is ambitious and empowers our children to become independent and resilient – like all our curriculum areas. We promote the use of a knowledge-rich curriculum to serve the key principles of cognitive science. Research has shown that those who are rich in knowledge gain new knowledge quicker and more effectively. Hirsch writes, knowledge should be thought of as mental velcro. People who have lots of subject-specific knowledge find that new knowledge ‘sticks’ to it, helping them commit the new information to long-term memory. 

We therefore place the acquisition of knowledge at the heart of the learning process. 

 

We want to equip them with the statutory requirements of the geography National Curriculum and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. We want them to take social action- getting involved in making their local environment better with extracurricular activities we offer, like Eco Club, RotaKids and Forest School. Our Eco Club strives to improve the local environment by taking part in litter picks, tidying our Eco Garden and planting bulbs in our entrance planters to make our school a colourful and welcoming space. RotaKids have worked with their counterpart the Rotary Bolton and have planted trees in our grounds. We continually strive to improve our school grounds and have recently created a Sensory Garden in partnership with the Wildlife Trust.  

 

Our aim is for all children to access challenging curriculum content that covers a range of geographical concepts. We seek to achieve this through the use of high-quality curriculum materials and knowledge organisers, that lay out specific, detailed, coherent knowledge and pedagogical practices that seek to ensure that knowledge is not just encountered but fixed in the long-term memory. We know that learning has not taken place if there has not been a change to long term memory. 

 

The children’s geography learning starts in the early years with opportunities to build the children’s knowledge and vocabulary of places starting with where they live and moving onto explore the wider world. 

 

Then the KS1 curriculum has been designed to lay the groundwork of locational knowledge and geographical skills to prepare them for KS2. It is our intent that our KS2 curriculum prepares our children to go on to study the subject at key stage 3 and beyond to university, or that they will require particular subject knowledge in their future career, or need particular subject knowledge or skills to enable them to be active members of society. We continue to build on their locational knowledge and find out about the amazing world in which we live studying countries and phenomena from across the continents. 

 

We enrich their time in our school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and provide opportunities which may normally be out of reach – these piques their interests and passions. For example, the Geographical Association’s Annual Fieldwork Fortnight gives all classes the opportunity to get hands on with fieldwork in the local community. 

 

Curriculum Implementation 

 

The geography curriculum has been carefully built and the learning opportunities for each year group designed to ensure progression and repetition in terms of embedding key learning, knowledge and skills. We believe that our pupils need to be actively involved in making sense of their learning and therefore an enquiry approach has been implemented, encouraging higher-order thinking and allowing our children to explore. Within each year group, geography strands are revisited in a progressive manner. For example, when encouraging an understanding of places and connection, Year 1 focus on observing human and physical features in the local community and then make comparisons to the capitals of the UK. This understanding of our place in the world develops throughout the year groups through comparisons within the UK, Europe and the wider world. 

  

Tier 3 subject specific geography vocabulary is identified for each learning challenge. We encourage our children ‘To speak like geographers’ in all lessons and display key vocabulary in our classrooms using dual coding and place it on our knowledge organisers.  

  

Our medium term plans are used to set out the learning objectives for each lesson, identifying engaging activities and resources which will be used to achieve them. 

  

We teach geography through an enquiry question, for instance in Year 3 ‘What makes the Earth angry?’ The knowledge linked to each enquiry has been deliberately chosen to be connected, cumulative and coherent. This helps to ensure sufficient time is allocated to all geography concepts and that geographical substantive and disciplinary knowledge can be revisited frequently.  

 

Our teachers link prior knowledge to new learning in order to deepen understanding. For example, in Year 4 when the children explore ‘? ’, We believe that by crafting our curriculum this way, we improve the potential for our children to retain what they have been taught, to alter their long-term memory and therefore make maximum progress. 

We use the Windows, Mirrors and Doors approach to ensure that geography learning is meaningful, inclusive, and transformative: 

• Windows – Geography provides pupils with windows into the wider world, enabling them to look beyond their own experiences. Through studying diverse places, cultures, and environments, children develop empathy, curiosity, and global awareness. They learn to appreciate similarities and differences between regions and understand the challenges and opportunities faced by people in different contexts. 

• Mirrors – Geography acts as a mirror that reflects pupils’ own communities, environments, and experiences. Through local fieldwork and studies of their immediate surroundings, children see themselves as part of the geographical story. They recognise the significance of their own place and identity, fostering pride and responsibility for their local environment and its connection to the wider world. 

• Doors – Geography opens doors to new thinking, understanding, and possibilities. Pupils are encouraged to question, investigate, and imagine how the world could change for the better. Through enquiry, problem-solving, and reflection on sustainability, pupils see themselves as active global citizens capable of making a difference in their world 

  

Curriculum Impact 

Our Geography curriculum inspires pupils to develop a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Through engaging and progressive learning experiences, children gain a deep understanding of diverse places, people, resources, and natural and human environments. They develop geographical skills and knowledge that allow them to investigate and explain the physical and human features of the world around them. 

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and understanding to: 

• Confidently use maps, atlases, globes, and digital mapping tools to locate countries, continents, and features. 

• Describe and compare key aspects of physical and human geography, both locally and globally. 

• Understand how humans interact with their environments and the impact of these interactions on sustainability and change. 

• Apply fieldwork skills to observe, measure, record, and present data to deepen their understanding of geographical processes. 

Our geography curriculum ensures that children leave primary school with a strong sense of place and space — from their immediate surroundings to the wider world. They become thoughtful, responsible global citizens who appreciate the complexity and diversity of the planet and understand their role in protecting it for future generations. 

Through careful assessment and reflection, we see the impact of our geography curriculum in pupils who: 

• Show enthusiasm and curiosity about the world around them. 

• Use geographical vocabulary with confidence and accuracy. 

• Demonstrate resilience, independence, and collaboration in enquiry-based learning. 

• Can make connections between physical and human geography and relate these to real-world issues. 

Ultimately, the impact of our Geography curriculum is that children leave Key Stage 2 as informed, inquisitive, and environmentally aware learners, ready to build upon their geographical understanding at Key Stage 3 and beyond 

 

 Yearly Curriculum Overview

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 1	Our School		Why can't a meerkat live in the North Pole?		Where do the wheels on the bus go?
Year 2		What would Emma Jane find exciting about our town?		Where would you prefer to live: England or Africa?		Why do we love to be beside the seaside?
Year 3	What makes the Earth angry?		What is the UK like?		Which Mediterranean country would you visit?
Year 4		Why is Manchester a cool place to live?		Why are mountains so marvelous?		What would you see with a ticket around the world?
Year 5	Why should the rainforests be important to all of us?		I'm a Year 5 Pupil Get me Out of Here		What would it be like to explore Eastern Europe?
Year 6		Why are rivers important to humans?		How is our world changing?		What's so special about the USA?