At Barnett Wood Infant School, our Geography curriculum is designed to develop children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Through carefully planned and sequenced teaching, our children become motivated to find out about the diversity of places, people and environments.

Children at Barnett Wood are inspired to investigate a range of places, both in Britain and the wider world to help them develop an excellent knowledge and understanding of the Earth’s physical and human features.

The development of vocabulary is paramount at Barnett Wood and through teaching and learning opportunities, meaning is given to a wide range of geographical vocabulary.

We are committed to providing children with opportunities to investigate and make enquiries about their local area of Ashtead, so that they can develop of real sense of who they are, their heritage and what makes our local area unique and special. We also develop the children’s ability to apply geographical skills to enable them to confidently ask questions, communicate their findings and share their geographical understanding with a range of audiences.

The National Curriculum for Geography aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places.
• Understand the key physical and human geographical features of the world.

Are competent in key geographical skills

Teachers use the Progression of Knowledge and Skills document for Geography when creating their medium term planning. They then use this to plan their weekly sessions. Geography is taught in half-termly blocks, alternating with History and we ensure the progression grids are highlighted to ensure the full coverage of Geography takes place each year.

In EYFS, Geography is explored under the umbrella of ‘understanding the world’. Children focus on their local area and the journeys that they have been on, making key observations about different things they saw. The children are also taught how to recognise and explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts or maps. The learning is kept at a level that is relatable to the children so that they are able to express opinions about the world around them.

 In Year 1, children broaden their knowledge of the world around them and begin to learn and think about the entirety of the United Kingdom. They learn about the four countries of the UK and their capital cities, demonstrating an ability to locate these on a map. Children will make observations about their local area and be able to discuss the physical and human features whilst using directional language when describing the location of said features.

During this year, children will also be able to describe the features of a hot and a cold place and will learn the key features of the seasons in the UK. In Year 2, children build on, deepen and secure their knowledge of the world around them and broaden their Geographical knowledge to that of a distant place. Children will learn about the similarities and differences between their town and somewhere abroad, focusing on key human and physical features. Children will learn about the seven continents of the world and the five oceans. They will be able to effectively use an atlas, world map and/or globe to support their learning. Children will also enhance their knowledge of the seasons and be able to discuss daily weather patterns in the UK.

  Use of knowledge organisers and work in children’s books will show evidence of ‘progress’ as the children demonstrate their ability to ‘know more, remember more, and understand more’. Pupil voice is excellent evidence to support this.

We will be able to see that the children know more and remember more in Geography, through evidence in their books and pupil voice. We will also see that they are able to recall prior learning and apply it. Children will start their next year of learning with the necessary skills and knowledge to build upon.

The impact of our Geography curriculum is that children at Barnett Wood Infant School are able to talk confidently with empathy about the world in which they live, making links to Ashtead and the wider world using the correct geographical vocabulary to describe the similarities and differences in physical and human features. The children show curiosity about our world and the people who live in it and are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for the next step in their learning.