Geography
What is Geography?
Geography is the study of people, places, resources and natural and human environments. It inspires a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people.
Geography teaching at Leagrave is delivered in line with National Curriculum requirements and supported by termly topics from the Cornerstones scheme. Children develop their locational knowledge and a sense of what places are like, as well as learning mapping skills and undertaking fieldwork.
Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change. It is dynamic and relevant. For me geography is a great adventure with a purpose.
The Early Years curriculum provides children with the opportunity to learn about different locations through cross curricular experiences, such as role play in a travel agency, or small world play exploring cold places. They get a sense of other places from stories and begin to explore simple maps as well as spending time outside observing seasonal changes. The classroom teddy bears encourage children to explore their local area and report back to the classes about where they have visited and what they have seen.
In Key Stage One, children learn more technical vocabulary and begin to study their local area. They take part in walks around the local area and identify key features such as the types of buildings and land use. They use resources such as aerial photographs and begin to learn how to use coordinates and keys when studying and creating maps.
Throughout Key Stage Two, these key skills are developed further, extending children’s knowledge beyond Europe. Children learn in greater depth about the effects that humans can have on places, examining land use, natural resources and reasons for settlements. They learn to compare familiar and unfamiliar locations, and explore the effects of natural phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanoes. Map work, knowledge of coordinates and grid references become more complex throughout Key Stage Two.
Although the teaching of Geography takes place throughout the year, we do focus our learning in a week called ‘Our Community, Our Country, Our World’, held annually. Each year group shows a clear progression of skills as they focus their attention on a particular geographical topic, and take the opportunity to share their learning both with other pupils and their parents.