Geography

The curriculum is structured around four key areas:

• Locational Knowledge
• Place Knowledge
• Human and Physical Geography
• Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

There is a clear progression in terms of skills and knowledge, from the Early Years through to Year 6 and we intend that by the end of Key Stage 2, our children have:

• A clear and detailed understanding of the location of places both globally and at home
• An openness and interest in different people, communities and ways of life
• An ability to notice the world around them and to record careful observations,
• A fascination for different physical features and how they have been formed
•  The skills to navigate, including map and compass work

How is geography taught at Cartmel CofE Primary?

Our Geography curriculum is based on Hamilton trust planning, which has been carefully selected and scrutinised to ensure that there is clear progression across the Key stages. Geography is a valued part of the curriculum, providing a purposeful means for exploring, appreciating, and understanding the world in which we live and how it has evolved. Our children have a range of opportunities to experience geography through practical and engaging activities including frequent visits to our local village, orienteering activities and walking activities from our front door to Hampsfell, to better understand the geographical features and significance of our local area. All children also enjoy trips further afield with regularity and older children experience residential trips in a different geographical location enabling them to better understand the diversity of Britain. We utilise the expertise and experiences of members of our school community to make links to other Countries to gain a more nuanced understanding of them. We are incredibly lucky to live in our geographical location and we make use of this by providing frequent opportunities to explore it.

As a school, we ensure that the children have access to a wide range of books and online resources that link to the geography topics studied in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Each term, we receive books from the Cumbria Library Service, which have been carefully chosen to match our current themes. New geographical vocabulary is introduced within each topic, and teachers encourage children to use these new words in their discussion and written work. Key topical vocabulary is shared on display boards throughout the school.

What is the impact?

Children enjoy geography at Cartmel Cof E school and leave school being able to speak confidently about their geography learning, skills and knowledge. Due to the careful progression of skills and knowledge, children have a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes, and can use geographical vocabulary accurately in their work. Cross-curricular links are utilised to ensure that learning is memorable and contextualised to aid children’s understanding. Children enjoy singing songs about the oceans and continents, in KS1 for instance and strong links between science and geography are made in KS2 to better understand the relationship between landscape features and rock formation for instance, which develop a strong sense of enquiry. Children are inquisitive and are encouraged to ask questions and utilise the quality books and current technology we have to develop their understanding. We spend time thinking about how our lives and choices can impact upon the world around us, and this understanding impacts upon the decision making which occurs at school council meets, enabling children to see real change in action.