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There is some flexibility
EYFS and Key Stage 1
In Key stage 1, we have sequenced the learning to specifically develop pupils’ conceptual understanding of scale and place by first learning about their everyday surroundings, then by looking at a national level and finally by studying global contexts which are likely to be new to them.
EYFS (Reception)
These activities have been designed so that you can use them at any point throughout the year to tie-in with your current theme/topic. The activities help the children to explore fictional and real maps in familiar contexts, experience the surrounding natural environment, notice changes in the weather and seasons over time and explore different landscapes and cultures.
Year 1
The ‘What is it like here?’ unit supports pupils to develop an understanding of basic geography by looking at their familiar surroundings and beginning to build an awareness of the United Kingdom. ‘What is the weather like in the UK?’ extends this locational knowledge and builds upon the children’s understanding of weather and seasons from Reception. Concepts such as mapping and directional language are introduced in this unit. With a more secure grasp of location, scale and place, pupils are able to look at a small area in the largest continent in our ‘What is it like to live in Shanghai?’ unit, building towards children’s ability to name and locate the world’s seven continents in Year 2. Here, they begin to directly compare contrasting human and physical features to those in their local area and develop an understanding of how communities and place can be similar or different to one another.
Year 2
Children revisit the concept of place by studying another non-European country in the unit ‘Would you prefer to live in a hot or cold place?’ They have the opportunity, as advised by the National curriculum, to explore human and physical features in areas of Kenya and, as in Year 1, compare this to their locality. ‘Why is our world wonderful?’, the second unit in Year 2 gives pupils the chance to look at features in the UK and explore further physical and human features in the wider world. The third unit builds on geographical skills learnt in Key stage 1 so far and gives children the opportunity to apply them in a more specific context away from the school grounds, using higher level geographical vocabulary.
Key stage 2
The National curriculum states that pupils should ‘develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge’, and so our units across Key stage 2 are sequenced to allow pupils to build on their understanding of geographical concepts and themes, such as settlement, trade, climate change and natural resources, and fieldwork skills. As guided by the National curriculum, we have also structured our units to reflect a regional approach, for example, the Amazonian region, a volcanic region in Southern Italy, the Alps, the Great Barrier Reef and a desert region. Case studies have been chosen not only to reflect the National curriculum guidance but also to ensure children have experience learning about a location in each continent by the end of primary school.
Year 3
Year 3 starts with ‘Why do people live near volcanoes?’ for deeper insight into physical processes than in Key Stage 1. ‘Who lives in Antarctica?’ expands on Year 2’s hot and cold places and how location affects people differently. ‘Are all settlements the same?’ lays the groundwork for understanding settlements and natural resources, which Year 4 will expand on. New Delhi was chosen as a case study for this unit so children studied an area in Asia in Key stage 2, ensuring all continents are covered before children leave primary school.
Year 4
In ‘Why are rainforests important to us?’ children are introduced to biomes. The Amazonian region is used as a case study featuring a direct comparison between how the local woodland is used similarly or differently to the Amazon rainforest. This is built upon in the unit ‘Where does our food come from?’ and ties together how climate and vegetation impact communities and trade. The third unit, ‘What are rives and how are they used?’ builds on these concepts further and gives children and opportunity to bring learning back to their locality during the fieldwork opportunity. The second and third unit in Year 4 build upon the concepts of settlements existing around natural resources and physical processes such as weather and climate.
Year 5
‘What is life like in the Alps?’ begins Year 5 with a case study combining the interdependence of both the human and physical environment, additionally building exposure to colder environments as introduced in Key stage 1 and in Year 3. ‘Why do oceans matter?’’ develops the understanding children have gained around climate change during Year 4. Exploration of a different type of biome and how humans utilise this environment is explored in the unit ‘Would you like to live in a desert?’ Here, the Mojave Desert, North America, is used as a case study and is directly compared to the children’s local area towards the end of the unit.
Year 6
We have placed the local geography unit ‘Can I carry out an independent fieldwork enquiry?’ as the last unit in Year 6, as children are given the opportunity to bring all their knowledge and skills together to independently showcase how they can think like a geographer. Units in Year 6 expose children to more complex issues of population, energy production and consumption and encourage them to consider data through an analytical lense. Midland, Texas is used as a case study in North America to directly compare energy usage and human features to those found in Port of Blyth, England. These units build upon components learnt throughout Key stage 2 such as settlement, economic opportunity, weather and physical processes.